Synthesis and Characterization of Selenite Loaded Chitosan/Alginate Nanoparticles as a Probable Radioprotectant

Background: Radioprotective agents like selenite are administrated before radiotherapy or during nuclear incident to reduce the side effects in healthy tissues. Chiotsan/alginate nanoparticles encapsulating selenite was prepared to be used for sustained release of radioprotective agent.Methods: Selenite loaded chitosan/alginate nanoparticles was precipitated through adding of sodium alginate to chitosan-selenite and separated by centrifugation. The encapsulation efficiency (EE%) was determined by the UV spectroscopy of remaining selenite in the supernatant. The selenite content (SC%) of nanoparticles was also determined by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) elemental analysis. The effective chitosan to alginate ratio on the nanoparticles morphology was investigated by SEM. Nanoparticles were dispersed in PBS and the drug release was measured over time. The antioxidative properties were also checked by hydroxyl radical scavenging effect (HRSE) and inhibitory effect against lipid peroxidation (IEALP) assays.Results: 2 ppm chitosan/ 2 ppm alginate composition yielded nanoparticles with size less than 100nm and EE of 87% for a 5mg/ml selenite concentration. The SC% of nanoparticles was 460mg of selenite/gram. Nanoparticles released the loaded selenite with a rapid initial burst of 34% at first 4h followed very slowly to 79% up to 32 h. The HRSE was 5.2 greater than that of equivalent sodium selenite concentration. The IEALP effect of nanoparticle was 43% compared to 74% for equivalent sodium selenite concentration.Conclusions: The nanoparticles could be considered as a sustained drug delivery/release system of radio-protectant. Moreover, modifications on nanoparticle composition could be useful to achieve a long-term prolonged release profile.

کلیدواژه ها:

Chitosan ، Sodium alginate ، Selenite ، Nanoparticles ، radioprotectant