Novel method for preparation of cyclodextrin polymers: physico-chemical characterization and cytotoxicity

The objective of this work was to optimize the synthesis procedure of soluble cyclodextrin polymers developed by Weltrowski et al. The use of the parameters indicated by the latter in our laboratory led to a lower result, which did not exceed 15 % (w/w). The new method resulted simultaneously in two fractions, a water soluble one and an insoluble one with a yield of 40 and 85 % (w/w), respectively. Only soluble cyclodextrin polymers were characterized along with the cytotoxicity study. The optimized soluble polymers were characterized by Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer, Thermogravimetric Analyzer, Differential Scanning Calorimetry, Powder X-Ray Diffraction Analysis and Size Exclusion Chromatography. In vitro cytotoxicity against peritoneal macrophage cells of female CD1 mice showed that soluble poly-alpha-CD and poly-gamma-CD were less cytotoxic than soluble poly-beta-CD at small dose and the opposite was true at higher dose. In conclusion, temperature and time could be used to optimize the yield of polymer cyclodextrins, which will have a broad use in the drug delivery system.