In vitro biocompatibility of low and medium molecular weight chitosan–coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles

Objective(S): The chitosan - Fe3O4 core - shell nanoparticles were synthesized. The nanoparticles should be coated properly in the shape of core-shell, so that they remain hidden from the body's immune system after coating. Effects of different molecular weight in coating were investigated. Methods: Nanoparticles coated with low and medium molecular weight chitosan were synthesized in one step. In this way, first, the nanoparticles were prepared by co-precipitation method. Then, the surface of the nanoparticles was modified using oleic acid. Finally, the nanoparticles were coated with low or medium molecular weight chitosan. The properties of particles were investigated by TEM, XRD, VSM and FT-IR devices as well as the Debye Scherrer method. In biocompatibility study, the nanoparticles were transferred to a medium containing fibroblast cells which were extracted from the mouse embryo and cultivated in an incubator. Then, dead and live fibroblast cells were counted. Results: The growth of fibroblast cells that were adjacent to the nanoparticles were different. The percentage of live cells in the container containing uncoated particles in the sixth day was 20%. Also, the percentage of live cells in a container containing particles covered with low and medium molecular weight chitosan were 90 and 98% in the sixth day respectively. Conclusions: The molecular weight of chitosan can have a significant effect on the toxicity of nanoparticles in biological environments throughout time, so it shows that the medium cells containing particles coated with medium molecular weight chitosan had better growth than low molecular weight chitosan coated particles.