Development of a biocompatible green drug release system using salidroside-TiO2-doped chitosan oligosaccharide molecularly imprinted polymers

This study focuses on creating a green drug release system using a food-grade titanium dioxide (TiO2) material through surface molecular imprinting. Salidroside (SD) was chosen as the template molecule to synthesize molecularly imprinted polymers (SDT-MIP) utilizing TiO2-doped chitosan oligosaccharides as the functional monomer. The SDT-MIPs were characterized using multiple techniques, and their effectiveness was evaluated through an in vitro release study. Additionally, the affinity of SDT-MIPs toward the template molecule was examined using Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models. The Langmuir model revealed a maximum capacity of 170.41 mg/g and an imprinted factor of 3.4. The study demonstrated that drug release from the SDT-MIPs in simulated gastrointestinal fluid primarily occurred through pure Fick diffusion. The release kinetics exhibited diffusion coefficients ranging from 3.38 × 10-3 cm2/s to 2.78 × 10-2 cm2/s, indicating their biocompatibility and potential application in drug delivery. Furthermore, the SDT-MIP demonstrated no adverse impact on cell viability even at concentrations as high as 1000 μg/mL. The survival rate of cells cultivated in the presence of SDT-MIP solution exceeded 120 ± 12.46%, providing evidence of the excellent biocompatibility and absence of cytotoxicity associated with SDT-MIP. The SDT-MIP possesses favorable sustained-release properties and lacks toxicity, allowing novel drug delivery systems to be created.