Chitosan Microspheres Loaded with Curcumin and Gallic Acid: Modified Synthesis, Sustainable Slow Release, and Enhanced Biological Property

Improving the utilization rate of loaded-drugs is of huge importance for generating chitosan-based (CS) micro-carriers. This study aims to fabricate a novel CS microspheres co-delivered curcumin (Cur) and gallic acid (Ga) to assess drug loading and release kinetics, the blood compatibility and anti-osteosarcoma properties. The present study observes the interaction between CS and Cur/Ga molecules and estimates the change in crystallinity and loading and release rate. In addition, blood compatibility and cytotoxicity of such microspheres are also evaluated. Cur-Ga-CS microspheres present high entrapment rate of (55.84 +/- 0.34) % for Ga and (42.68 +/- 0.11) % for Cur, possibly attributed to surface positive charge (21.76 +/- 2.46) mV. Strikingly, Cur-Ga-CS microspheres exhibit slowly sustainable release for almost 7 days in physiological buffer. Importantly, these microspheres possess negligibly toxic to blood and normal BMSC cells, but strong anti-osteosarcoma effect on U2OS cells. Overall, Cur-Ga-CS microspheres are promising to become a novel anti-osteosarcoma agent or sustainable delivery carrier in biomedical applications.