Production and Evaluation of Polyblend of Agar and Polyacrylonitrile Nanofibers for in vitro Release of Methotrexate in Cancer Therapy

Abstract

Polyblend of agar and polyacrylonitrile containing methotrexate (MTX) were successfully electrospun into nanocomposite nanofibers to be used for controlled drug release in cancer treatment. To evaluate the effects of polymer ratio and drug concentration on release rate, solutions with different polyacrylonitrile/agar ratios were prepared and subsequently electrospun with different weight ratios of MTX-polymer. Scanning electron microscopy was used to investigate the morphology of the electrospun nanofibers. The results showed that increasing the drug and agar percentage led to increase in diameter due to increase in the solution blend viscosity. FTIR spectrums were evaluated to investigate whether chemical interactions had taken place between the polymer and the drug. DSC was used to show that drug molecules were present in the amorphous form in the nanofibers. In vitro drug release studies performed in the phosphate buffer saline at pH 7.4 showed that release rates increased significantly with the raise of drug concentration. Moreover, drug release rates increased with increasing agar ratio due to the increased hydrophilicity of the drug delivery systems. Overall, this novel nanofibrous web proved to be capable of releasing MTX in a controlled manner that can be used as a locally controlled delivery system in cancer therapy.