Cluster of D-maltose clicked to β-cyclodextrin: preparation and its application as a biocompatible drug delivery nanovehicle

In the current study, it was tried to design and synthesize a new derivative of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) as a result of reaction with D-maltose (β-CD-M) to compare and investigate its capability as an anticancer drug nanocarrier. The success in the β-CD-M synthesis was validated via common characterization techniques: nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM results indicate that the obtained β-CD-M molecule has a crystalline structure with a size of less than 100 nm. In the following, methotrexate (MTX) and doxorubicin (DOX) as the model of anticancer drugs were separately loaded in β-CD-M and their release profile was obtained. The outcome of the cytotoxic assay against MCF 10A cells indicated that β-CD-M is biocompatible and could be used as a drug carrier. Overall, from the obtained results, the synthesized biocompatible β-CD-M with more drug loading capacity and a controlled release profile in comparison to unmodified β-CD could be proposed as a potential nanocarrier for anticancer drug delivery.