Magnetically responsive release of 5-FU from superparamagnetic egg albumin coated iron oxide core-shell nanoparticles

The present study aimed at preparing egg albumin coated iron oxide (EAIO) core shell nanoparticles and evaluating their ability to release 5-FU drug under applied external magnetic field. EAIO nanoparticles were prepared by simultaneous co-precipitation and emulsion crosslinking technique and characterized by FTIR, DSC, TEM, XRD, particle size analysis and surface potential measurements. The influence of chemical composition of EAIO nanoparticles, pH and temperature of release media, presence of simulated biological fluids as the release media, and applied magnetic field was investigated on the release profiles of 5-FU drug. The drug release was analyzed kinetically using Fickan power law, zero order, first order and Korsmeyer-Peppas models and the amount of released drug was correlated and the relation was drawn between the quantity of released drug and water holding capacity of nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were judged for in vitro cytotoxicity and the chemical integrity of the drug was also accessed.