Synthesis of Hollow Calcium Carbonate Microspheres by a Template Method for DOX Loading and Release with Carbon Dots Photosensitivity

Calcium carbonate, as the main inorganic component of human bones and teeth, has good biocompatibility and bioactivity and finds increasing applications in the field of bone drug carriers. In this study, hollow calcium carbonate microspheres were synthesized by a water hydrothermal method using folic acid as a template. Before drug loading, the prepared calcium carbonate microspheres were subjected to aminidation, carboxylation, and vinylenimine modification. The hollow calcium carbonate microspheres loaded with doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) were further incorporated with light-emitting carbon quantum dots(CQDs) and hyaluronic acid (HA). The result showed that the drug loading capacity in the as-prepared calcium carbonate was 179.064 mg/g. In the simulated solutions of cellular metabolism containing various concentrations of reduced glutathione(GSH), the sustained release of DOX was confirmed qualitatively by the luminescence of the CQDs. The DOX release rate was measured quantitively by UV absorption spectra. The highest release rate reached 85.99% in a simulated solution of 0.005 mol/L GSH solution, and the release rate could vary intelligently with the concentration.

Automated summary

Hollow calcium carbonate microspheres were synthesized by a water hydrothermal method and loaded with doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX). The sustained release of DOX was confirmed qualitatively by the luminescence of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) and quantitatively measured by UV absorption spectra in simulated solutions of cellular metabolism.