Preparation and characterization of abalone shells derived biological mesoporous hydroxyapatite microspheres for drug delivery

• Published in: Materials Science & Engineering C Vol. 113; p. 110969
• Main Authors: Huang, Hao, Du, Mingzu, Chen, Jingdi, Zhong, Shengnan, Wang, Jianhua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.08.2020; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Abalone shell recycling; Animal Shells - metabolism; Animals; Antibiotics, Antineoplastic - chemistry; Antibiotics, Antineoplastic - metabolism; Antibiotics, Antineoplastic - pharmacology; Apoptosis; Apoptosis - drug effects; Biocompatibility; Biocompatible Materials - chemistry; Biocompatible Materials - pharmacology; Cell Line; Cell Survival - drug effects; Cytotoxicity; Doxorubicin; Doxorubicin - chemistry; Doxorubicin - metabolism; Doxorubicin - pharmacology; Drug Carriers - chemistry; Drug delivery; Drug delivery systems; Drug Liberation; Durapatite - chemistry; Environmental sustainability; Gastropoda - metabolism; Humans; Hydrothermal; Hydroxyapatite; Hydroxyapatite microsphere; Materials science; Mice; Microspheres; Pore size; Porosity; Shells; Sustainability; Tumors; Drug delivery; Environmental sustainability; Hydrothermal; Abalone shell recycling; Hydroxyapatite microsphere
• ISSN: 0928-4931; 1873-0191
• DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2020.110969

The rapid growth of the abalone industry has brought a great burden to the environment because of their inedible shells. Aiming at environmental and resource sustainability, porous microspheres of carbonate-substituted hydroxyapatite (HAP) were prepared by a hydrothermal method using abalone shells; then, they were further used as a carrier for doxorubicin (DOX) in a drug delivery system. The porous HAP microspheres were approximately 6 μm in size with a considerable specific surface area and average pore size (128.6659 cm2/g and 9.064 nm, respectively), which ensured excellent drug-handling capacity (95.542%). In addition, the pH responsiveness of the drug release system was favorable for effective in vivo drug release in an acidic tumor microenvironment. Moreover, the drug-loaded microspheres could effectively induce apoptosis of MCF-7 cells but were less cytotoxic to MC3T3-E1 cells. Because of its good biocompatibility, high drug loading capacity and controlled drug release property, the porous microspheres prepared in this experiment have potential application value in drug delivery and tumor therapy; furthermore, they make full use of abalone shells, providing environmental sustainability. [Display omitted] •Hydroxyapatite (HAP) porous microspheres were synthesized by hydrothermal method from abandoned abalone shell.•HAP porous microspheres have prominent specific surface area and pore size.•HAP porous microspheres show excellent drug-handling capacity with entrapment efficiency could reach 95.542%.•Drug-loaded HAP microspheres show controlled release rates and it was pH-responsive.•Providing an efficient strategy to reuse abalone shell resources for environment protection and drug delivery