Surface-functionalization of mesoporous SBA-15 silica materials for controlled release of methylprednisolone sodium hemisuccinate: Influence of functionality type and strategies of incorporation

Abstract Mesoporous SBA-15 silica materials functionalized with several organic moieties, that include different polarities and hydrophobicities, were investigated as matrices for controlled drug delivery. The functionalities were incorporated into SBA-15 using two methods: direct synthesis or co-condensation route and post-synthesis grafting. Methylprednisolone sodium hemisuccinate, a synthetic pharmaceutical compound used as anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant, was loaded onto the pristine and functionalized mesoporous SBA-15 silica materials. The influence of the type of organic moieties as well as their incorporation method onto the inorganic silica framework has been evaluated. The results show that SBA-15 functionalized with aminopropyl trimethoxysilane groups has the largest capacity of drug adsorption, clearly higher than the provided by materials functionalized with other groups, independently of the synthesis route. Additionally, materials synthesized by the co-condensation approach show a lower degree of drug retention than the same material synthesized by grafting technique. This fact is attributed to the distinct localization of the functionality, more accessible in the case of the grafting procedure, and hence suggesting that stronger interactions among the SBA-15 functionalized surfaces and the model drug are established. To ascertain whether other organosilanes containing amino groups can provide more effective loading and controlled drug delivery, at neutral and acidic conditions (pH of 7.4 and 4.6, respectively), it was also investigated the incorporation by grafting of several amino organic moieties onto the SBA-15 silica materials. It was concluded that as the number of amino groups incorporated into SBA-15 material increased, not only the drug loading capacity was higher, but the functionalized silica material vehicles slowed down the drug delivery. Finally, it was confirmed that cell viability was largely unaffected by amino-functionalized mesoporous SBA-15 silica materials after 72 h of incubation time.