Preparation and characterization of magnetic chitosan hydroxyapatite nanoparticles for protein drug delivery and antibacterial activity

A novel magnetic chitosan hydroxyapatite (MCHAp) nanoparticle as a protein drug carrier was synthesized through an improved hydrothermal method. The chemical composition, microstructure, magnetic properties, and porous characteristics were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer. The characterization results indicated that Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles and chitosan were successfully incorporated into hydroxyapatite, which endowed the as-prepared MCHAp nanoparticle with a porous structure and excellent magnetic property. The protein drug adsorption and release behavior of the MCHAp nanoparticles were investigated with lysozyme (LYS) as a model protein drug. The MCHAp nanoparticles showed high LYS adsorption capacity (649.75 mg/g) and sustained drug release properties. In addition, magnetic chitosan hydroxyapatite nanoparticles also exhibited good bacterial inhibition performance. The MCHAp nanoparticle was expected to be a promising drug carrier for the biomedical field though more detailed protein kinetics and preclinical studies were necessary to verify these observations.