Facile preparation of hydroxyapatite–chondroitin sulfate hybrid mesoporous microrods for controlled and sustained release of antitumor drugs

●Preparation of hydroxyapatite–chondroitin sulfate hybrid mesoporous microrods.●Efficient loading of the antitumor drug doxorubicin hydrochloride.●Controllable release of antitumor drug with pH-dependent and sustained features.

In the present study, using chondroitin sulfate as morphology-directing matrix, hydroxyapatite–chondroitin sulfate hybrid mesoporous microrods were prepared successfully through a facile one-pot method under mild conditions. From the results, the antitumor drug doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX·HCl) could be loaded into the as-prepared microrods efficiently owing to the large specific surface area and the presence of the mesopores. In addition, the loaded DOX·HCl could be controlled released with pH-dependent and sustained features. These suggest that the hybrid mesoporous microrods prepared in this study might be used as the potential targeted drug delivery carrier to treat the human tumors clinically with good specificity and long duration.