Facile synthesis of camptothecin intercalated layered double hydroxide nanohybrids via a coassembly route

•Camptothecin intercalated layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanohybrids were successfully synthesized.•A coassembly route was used to synthesize these LDH nanohybrids.•This route gave short reaction times, mild conditions, and high drug loading.•Charge-neutral and poorly water-soluble drugs could be effectively intercalated.

A method has been developed for the synthesis of intercalated layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanohybrids of the charge-neutral and poorly water-soluble anticancer drug camptothecin (CPT) using a coassembly route. For this route, CPT molecules were initially incorporated into the micelles of a biocompatible surfactant, such as sodium cholate (SCh) or sodium deoxycholate (SDC). The resulting negatively charged CPT-loaded micelles and the positively charged LDH nanosheets were then coassembled together into the CPT intercalated LDH nanohybrids. The resulting nanohybrids were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and elemental analyses. The results revealed that the loading of CPT in the nanohybrids could reach as high as 13%, indicating that this route could be used to achieve the effective intercalation of charge-neutral and poorly water-soluble drugs into the LDH gallery. The in vitro release of CPT from the nanohybrids was examined, and the results showed that the release was a diffusion-controlled process and that the diffusion process through the LDH particles was the rate-limiting step. The parabolic diffusion equation effectively described the kinetic process associated with the release of CPT from the nanohybrids.

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