In this study, alginate/gelatin (AL/GEL) spherical beads are prepared and encapsulated with 1 wt % of needle-shaped gallic acid (GA) crystals to develop a drug delivery system. The % encapsulation efficiency of GA into AL/GEL beads, its release rate, and the stability of the beads are evaluated, followed by cytocompatibility studies. The interactions between GA, AL, and GEL are examined by using FTIR. Morphological observations reveal that increasing the GEL concentration above 0.4 wt.% possibly hinders the binding of calcium ions with the carboxylate groups of AL, resulting in the formation of beads with larger diameters. In contrast, the bead diameter decreases with the incorporation of GA due to hydrogen bonding. EDX analysis of GA-loaded AL/GEL beads indicated that GA binds to the GEL-rich region. Furthermore, EDX analysis of mineralized beads demonstrated that GA enhanced calcium deposition near the alginate-rich region. In vitro studies demonstrate that AL/GEL beads loaded with ≤ 0.5 (wt.) % GA are cytocompatible and MC3T3-E1 murine pre-osteoblast cells proliferated over a 5-day period. Overall, the prepared beads show potential as a drug delivery system for bone regeneration applications.
Keywords: MC3T3‐E1; alginate‐gelatin beads; bone tissue engineering; encapsulation; gallic acid.
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