Cytostatic drug mitoxantrone delivery platform based on porous vaterite particles: Synthesis, characterization and release

Malignant neoplasms remain a serious problem worldwide, requiring improved approaches to chemotherapy. Cytostatic drug delivery platforms offer a number of advantages, such as controlling the rate of drug release and the ability to increase drug concentration in the pathologic area. The high biocompatibility and physicochemical features of porous calcium carbonate particles (vaterite) make them an ideal candidate for drug delivery. Vaterite of two sizes (micron and sub-micron) have been considered as a delivery platform for cytostatic drug mitoxantrone (MTX). We used freezing-induced loading of MTX into calcium carbonate particles, and MTX loading capacity and efficacy were independent of particle size (0.09 +/- 0.01 wt% and 70 +/- 9 % for micron, and 0.07 +/- 0.03 wt% and 65 +/- 14 % for sub-micron particles). The release profile of MTX for particles of two sizes differed, with release accompanied by recrystallization of vaterite. The MTX release was faster for micron-sized particles. We have proposed a completely new approach to visualize the process of MTX release from calcium carbonate particles, based on the quenching the fluorescence of gel, contained semiconductor quantum dots (FluoGel). A cytotoxicity study of two sizes of calcium carbonate particles with MTX demonstrated the preservation of anticancer efficacy, with better results for micron-sized particles. Thus, the proposed cytostatic drug mitoxantrone delivery platform may be promising for drug delivery.