Preparation and characterization of magnetic Fe3O4-chitosan nanoparticles loaded with isoniazid

A novel and simple method has been proposed to prepare magnetic Fe3O4-chitosan nanoparticles loaded with isoniazid (Fe3O4/CS/INH nanocomposites). Efforts have been made to develop isoniazid (INH) loaded chitosan (CS) nanoparticles by ionic gelation of chitosan with tripolyphosphate (TPP). The factors that influence the preparation of chitosan nanoparticles, including the TPP concentration, the chitosan/TPP weight ratio and the chitosan concentration on loading capacity and encapsulation efficiency of chitosan nanoparticles were studied. The magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles were prepared by co-precipitation method of Fe2+ and Fe3+. Then the magnetic Fe3O4/CS/INH nanocomposites were prepared by ionic gelation method. The magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles and magnetic Fe3O4/CS/INH nanocomposites were characterized by XRD, TEM, FTIR and SQUID magnetometry. The in vitro release of Fe3O4/CS/INH nanocomposites showed an initial burst release in the first 10 h, followed by a more gradual and sustained release for 48 h. It is suggested that the magnetic Fe3O4/CS/INH nanocomposites may be exploited as potential drug carriers for controlled-release applications in magnetic targeted drugs delivery system.