Alginate-Coated MIL-100-Fe as an Appropriate Drug Delivery System

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of crystalline porous materials which contain metal ions and organic linkers in their structure. These materials are known as molecular cages which can trap a various range of molecules and whereby are highly functional in different fields of chemistry.

In this work, we exerted coated-nanoporous MIL-100-Fe MOF as a drug delivery system (DDS) to encapsulation and release of a model pharmaceutical agent. The MOF has been prepared using solvothermal technique and then coated with Sodium Alginate as a green biodegradable polymer. Herein Metformin is utilized as a model drug to be trapped inside the MOF pores within an aqueous solution in the presence of the MOF nanoparticles. Metformin is an oral antihyperglycemic agent which is used for the treatment of type II diabetes. The successful synthesis of the framework is proved by several techniques including IR, PXRD, and TGA. In vitro studies showed that this framework is a promising DDS for the targeting and controlling release of drug molecules especially the oral one.

By this technique, unwanted effects of the immature release of the loaded drug will be reduced and the drug cargo will be released in a controlled way either which it resulted in the increase of drug bioavailability.