Optimizing ibuprofen concentration for rapid pharmacokinetics on biocompatible zinc-based MOF-74 and UTSA-74

Curcumin Delivery on Metal–Organic Frameworks: The Effect of the Metal Center on Pharmacokinetics within the M-MOF-74 Family

“…To confirm that the MOFs were synthesized correctly, SEM and XRD were performed to characterize the particle sizes and crystalline structures as shown in Figure . As evidenced, all MOFs displayed topographical features and particle sizes consistent with their respective literature. ,− Namely, the Co-MOF-74 particles were ∼10 μm in length and were of rod-like topography (Figure a), whereas the Zn-MOF-74 particulate was ∼1 μm in diameter and contained a slightly spherical structure with somewhat defined faces. Meanwhile, Ni-MOF-74 (Figure c) formed spherical conglomerates with individual cubic faces, whereas Mg-MOF-74 displayed a flower-like topography and was between 3 and 5 μm in diameter (Figure d).…”

“…The MOF-74 samples were synthesized by their well-established solvothermal protocols. , After synthesis and activation, the MOFs were dried overnight at 100 °C under vacuum to remove any moisture. Then, the desired amount of curcumin (i.e., 30 or 50 wt %) was incorporated by wet impregnation using the technique detailed in our recent work for ibuprofen . Briefly, the desired amount of curcumin was dissolved in 10 mL MeOH/0.05 g curcumin by sonication at 25 °C for 10 min inside of a cleaned flask.…”

“…The pristine MOFs’ topographies and particle sizes were assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) using a Hitachi S4700 microscope. As is a well-established phenomenon, drug-loaded MOFs exhibit complete losses in their crystalline and particle structures since the impregnation step saturates the crystal faces, agglomerates the individual particulate, and causes the MOFs to appear amorphous. ,, For this reason, XRD and SEM were not performed on the drug-loaded MOFs. Instead, the differences between the pristine and drug-loaded MOFs’ functional groups were assessed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) using a Nicolet iS50 FTIR equipped with an attenuated total reflectance (ATR) diamond.…”

“…The curcumin delivery experiments were performed over the course of 24 h in PBS solution using the same method from our recent work . Briefly, 100 mL of PBS solution was heated to 37.4 °C (i.e., human body temperature), and a 0.5 mL sample was collected before adding the MOF.…”

“…A promising alternative to traditional tablets, loading medicinal compounds onto nanocarriers with a high surface area, such as zeolites, activated carbons, or metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), has been gathering significant momentum as a drug delivery platform in recent years. − Of the various carriers that have been reported, MOFs have been attracting more attention over the past decade as these materials’ physiochemical properties (i.e., surface area, pore volume, and functional moieties) can easily be tuned to incorporate high drug loadings, while the metal centers and organic ligands can be modified to increase carrier biocompatibility and minimize cytotoxicity. For example, we reported in our recent work that, by utilizing biocompatible Zn-74 MOFs for ibuprofen delivery, it is possible to load and administer between 30 and 50 wt % of the drug and minimize the carrier invasiveness in the human body . As another example, Teplensky et al reported that, by pore-expanding UIO-66 to form NU-1000, it is possible to increase the effective drug loading to 80 from ∼50 wt % whilst retaining rapid pharmacokinetics.…”