ABSTRACT
A combination of chemotherapy with hyperthermia can produce remarkable success in treating advanced cancers. For this purpose, magnetite (Fe3O4)-doped mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles (Fe3O4-MBG NPs) were synthesized by the sol-gel method. Fe3O4-MBG NPs were found to possess spherical morphology with a size of approximately 50 ± 10 nm and a uniform pore size of 9 nm. The surface area (309 m2 g-1) was sufficient for high drug loading capacity and mitomycin C (Mc), an anticancer drug, was entrapped in the Fe3O4-MBG NPs. A variable rate of drug release was observed at different pH values (6.4, 7.4 & 8.4) of the release media. No significant death of normal human fibroblast (NHFB) cells was observed during in vitro analysis and for Mc-Fe3O4-MBG NPs considerable inhibitory effects on the viability of cancer cells (MG-63) were observed. When Fe3O4-MBG NPs were immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF), hydroxycarbonate apatite (HCA) was formed, as confirmed by XRD and FTIR spectra. A negligible value of coercivity and zero remanence confirms that Fe3O4-MBG NPs are superparamagnetic. Fe3O4-MBG NPs showed a hyperthermia effect in an alternating magnetic field (AMF), and a rise of 11.5 °C in temperature during the first 6 min, making it suitable for hyperthermia applications. Fe3O4-MBG NPs expressed excellent biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity, therefore, they are a safe biomaterial for bone tissue regeneration, drug delivery, and hyperthermia treatment.
