Preparation and characterization of phosphate-stabilized amorphous calcium carbonate nanoparticles and their application in curcumin delivery

Abstract Nano-sized amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) have a great potential for drug transport and drug delivery because of their high drug loading capacity, excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability. However, ACC is the thermodynamically least stable phase of calcium carbonate, and such thermal metastability often transforms it into more stable vaterite or calcite phases, so the inhibition of the phase transformation of ACC is of great significance for its application in drug delivery systems. Herein, phosphate as a morphology controlling additive was introduced to stabilize the metastable ACC. The results showed that the composite nanoparticles (named here the ACCP) with narrow size distribution located at approximately 128 nm (measured by dynamic light scattering) were obtained, when Ca2+ concentration and C/P were 10 mM and 7/3 respectively, prepared at 30 °C for 10 min. The powdered X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that phosphate has an excellent ability to stabilize ACC, and even after storage for 60 days at room temperature, the structure of ACCP remains amorphous. The in vitro drug release tests showed that ACCP nanoparticles had a high curcumin (Cur) loading capacity and a sustained drug release property. Moreover, the 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) radical scavenging activity assay showed that ACCP-encapsulating strategy could effectively prevent the decomposition of Cur. In vitro cytotoxicity tests demonstrated that the resultants have excellent biocompatibility. Therefore, the as-prepared ACCP nanoparticles are promising for drug delivery applications.