pH-sensitive magnetic nanocomposite hydrogels chitosan/hyaluronic acid/ Fe3O4: Ciprofloxacin release, kinetics and antibacterial activity

This work focuses on preparing novel Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) imprinted with Chitosan/Hyaluronic acid (Cs/HA) hybrid hydrogels via an in situ technique, presenting a Cs/HA/Fe3O4 nanocomposite hydrogel for the in vitro release of the ciprofloxacin (CFX) antibiotic drug. The properties of the prepared nanocomposite hydrogel have been explored using Fourier-Transform infrared spectrometric (FT-IR), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) mapping, Transition Electron Microscopic (TEM), Vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM), X-ray diffractometric (XRD), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Ultra Violet-Visible (UV-Vis), rheological, swelling, and drug release studies. Notably, the distribution of nanosized Fe3O4 MNPs within the Cs/HA hydrogel scaffold was found to be uniformly dispersed, indicating a well-controlled synthesis process. Indeed, the presence of Fe3O4 MNPs increased the swelling rate of the hydrogel. The pH-responsive Cs/HA/Fe3O4 nanocomposite hydrogel enabled the sustained release of CFX, with 93 % entrapment efficiency and 100 % release within 13 h at various pH levels. The drug-loaded hydrogel demonstrated a noteworthy zone of inhibition against both Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli bacteria. The analysis of cell toxicity percentages at specified concentrations, along with the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50), suggests that the Cs/HA/Fe3O4 hydrogel demonstrates a favorable safety profile.