Iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles have been employed as potential vehicles for a large number of biomedical applications, such as drug delivery. This article describes the synthesis, characterization and in vitro cytotoxic in COVID-19 cells evaluation of DMSA superparamagnetic iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles. Magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) nanoparticles were synthesized by co-precipitation of iron salts and coated with meso-2,3dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) molecule. Structural and morphological characterizations were performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR), magnetic measurements (SQUID), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Our results demonstrate that the nanoparticles have a mean diameter of 12 nm in the solid-state and are superparamagnetic at room temperature. There is no toxicity of SPIONS-DMSA under the cells of patients with COVID-19. Taken together the results show that DMSA-Fe 3 O 4 are good candidates as nanocarriers in the alternative treatment of studied cells.

This article describes the synthesis, characterization, in vitro cytotoxic and genotoxicity evaluation of chitosan-iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 -CS) as vehicles for ibuprofen (IBU) molecule. Magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) nanoparticles were synthesized by co-precipitation of iron salts and coated with chitosan, leading to the formation of Fe 3 O 4 -CS hybrid nanoparticles, and then IBU was adsorbed on the surface of the modified nanoparticles. The physicochemical, morphological, and magnetic properties of the nanoparticles were determined by X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and SQUID magnetic measurements. The nanoparticles have shown stability in aqueous medium presenting an average hydrodynamic size of 36 ± 9 nm for Fe 3 O 4 -CS, and 132 ± 1 nm for Fe 3 O 4 -CS-IBU. The cytotoxicity of nanoparticles using the cell viability of the blood mononuclear cell fraction and the analysis of gene expression of the repair genes hMSH2, hMSH6 and NF-kB were performed to evaluate their applicability as drug carriers. The results showed that Fe 3 O 4 -CS nanoparticles are suitable candidates as magnetic vehicles for ibuprofen in biomedical applications. Graphic abstract

This work is an innovative study of ordered mesoporous silica (SBA-15) nanocomposites, with different morphologies, and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs), as promising drug delivery vehicles guided by magnetization. Incorporating SPIONs into SBA-15 is of great interest because it can improve controlled delivery of drugs as well as avoid agglomeration of the nanoparticles. SPIONs were prepared by coprecipitation and thermal decomposition methods and incorporated into SBA-15, with different morphologies, by the incipient wetness impregnation method. The nanocomposites (SBA-15:SPIONs) were characterized by physicochemical techniques, including small-angle X-ray scattering, X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption−desorption isotherms, scanning and transmission electron microscopies, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, magnetization measurements, pair distribution function analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential thermal analysis. The X-ray diffraction and small-angle X-ray scattering data of the nanocomposites verified that the crystalline phase of magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) and the pore structure of the SBA-15 did not undergo significant changes. N 2 physisorption data evidenced significant changes in the textural properties of the pure SBA-15, indicating the incorporation of SPIONs into the mesopores, with greater incorporation when the nanoparticles are obtained by thermal decomposition, in agreement with the small-angle X-ray scattering results. Transmission electron microscopy images, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and thermogravimetry results evidence the successful incorporation of SPIONs into the silica matrix. The SBA-15:SPIONs presented superparamagnetic behavior. The pair distribution function method revealed a significant variation in the local structure related to changes in the Si−Si−O coordination caused by the decrease in the SBA-15 particle size. The incorporation of SPIONs was better for silica with smaller particle sizes and a higher proportion of SPIONs. Biological assays, such as myelotoxicity and cell viability, demonstrated that the nanocomposites could be safe potential drug delivery vehicles.

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