ATLA::Alternatives to Laboratory Animals

Volume 24, Number 4

In vitro cytotoxicity testing of a candidate drug delivery material.

ATLA 24, 567-571, July/August 1996

Rosella Sbarbati-Delguerra,^1,3 Simona Maltinti,² Piero Cerrai,¹ Mario Tricoli,¹ and Giulio D. Guerra¹

¹Centro Studi Processi lonici di Polimerizzazione, CNR, Via Diotisalvi 2, 56126 Pisa, Italy; ²Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, Universitá di Pisa, Via Diotisalui 2, 56126, Pisa, Italy; ³Istituto di Fisologia Clinica, CNR, Via Saui 8, 56126 Pisa, Italy

SUMMARY

Samples of a newly synthesised class of macromolecular compound, poly(N-allyl acrylamide)s, obtained by thermal condensation at 200°C of a polyelectrolyte complex, poly(allylamunonium acrylate), were tested for both cytotoxicity and water absorption. The cytotoxicity tests (Level D, carried out on both an unmodified complex and a fully condensed polyamide, indicate that these materials exert no acute toxicity on 3T3 fibroblast cells. The water absorption tests, carried out on both partially condensed and fully condensed polyamides, at three different pH values, indicate that these materials are suitable to be used for the controlled delivery of drugs containing ionic or polar groups.

Keywords: cytotoxicity, water absorption, poly(N-allyl acrylamide)s, drug delivery