Enhanced Antitumor Effect and Drug Delivery from Se Doped Hydroxyapatite Microspheres

Selenium doped hydroxyapatite microspheres (HASe) were prepared by using self-sacrificing CaCO3 as template via hydrothermal route, and their physicochemical properties were characterized by SEM, TEM, DLS, XRD, FTIR and TGA. The curcumin was employed as the model drug, and its delivery behavior from HASe microspheres was evaluated with the loading efficacy and controlled-release efficiency. As a result, it was observed that the synthetic HASe products are spherical with an average diameter of about 1.0 mu m. The surface of the microspheres is constructed by subtle units of hydroxyapatite nanorods which are 150 nm in length and 20 nm in width. HASe microspheres exhibit a high drug loading efficacy and slowly sustainable release behavior for curcumin. The loading amount of HASe10 was (88.72 +/- 0.01) mg.g(-1), and less than 1.5 mg of curcumin was released from it during O similar to 159 h. There is no burst release but slow sustainable release manner in it. Moreover, the toxicity of HASe microspheres was investigated by blood assay and cell experiment. Compared with selenium free HA microspheres, HASe microspheres show lower blood toxicity to healthy man, and less damage to normal cells, but stronger inhibition on the growth of the osteosarcoma cells.