Alkylated pectin hydrogels as potential protein drug carriers

Pectin has been used in the development of safe and effective drug delivery systems because of its unique physicochemical and biological characteristics. However, it still needs to be modified to overcome some inherent drawbacks. In the present study, pectin was alkylated by bromododecane. The C 12 -alkylated pectin (PC 12 ) can form strong hydrogels in the presence of Ca 2+ . Such hydrogels were explored to prepare bovine serum albumin (BSA)-loaded microspheres (PC 12 -MS). The BSA encapsulation yield of PC 12 -MS was significantly higher than that of microspheres prepared with the original pectin (PC-MS). Differential scanning calorimetry analysis indicated that interactions existed between BSA and pectin during the preparation of microspheres. Release tests showed that PC 12 -MS almost avoided BSA release in simulated gastric fluids, which was verified by environmental scanning electron microscopy analysis, and exhibited an effective controlled release throughout the simulated gastrointestinal tract compared to PC-MS. In addition, an MTT assay showed the biocompatibility of C 12 -alkylated pectin. Thus alkylated pectin may serve as a potential protein drug carrier. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134 , 45344.