Magnetic nanosystems substituted with zinc for enhanced antibacterial, drug delivery and cell viability behaviours

Nanoparticles (NPs) of magnetite (M) and zinc ferrites (Zn0.5M and ZnM) with different zinc concentrations were synthesized through a co-precipitation method and coated with chitosan containing ciprofloxacin antibiotic to enhance the cells compatibility to these nanosystems. The prepared magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), chitosan/MNPs and ciprofloxacin/chitosan/MNPs were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmittance electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) accessorized with energy dispersive X-rays (EDAX), vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and BET surface area measurements. Antibacterial properties of the MNPs were examined against Candida albicans (yeast), Bacillus cereus (Gram-positive bacteria) and Escherichia coli (Gram-negative bacteria).The drug-loaded NPs were also studied for their efficiency of ciprofloxacin release. The average crystallite size of the fabricated NPs was 10.4 nm (Fe3O4) and 14 nm (ZnFe2O4) for samples M and Zn0.5M, respectively. The surface areas of the achieved specimens were recorded to be 145.92±2.32, 102.94±0.39 and 168.71±2.05 m²/g for M, Zn0.5M and ZnM, respectively. The saturation magnetization values were determined to be approximately 38.7, 60.6 and 2 emu/g for M, Zn0.5M and ZnM, respectively. It was revealed that the bactericidal activity towards the tested strains was highly pronounced for the nanosytems containing ciprofloxacin drug alongside with those substituted with zinc. During a period of 30 days, the total dosage of released ciprofloxacin from CipChM, CipChZnM and CipChZn0.5M was 82, 90 and 96%, respectively. Finally, cells viability and proliferation of different cell lines were found to be increased by the developed nanosystems, especially by those containing zinc and chitosan in the presence of extra MNPs. </p