The present study aimed to develop an easy controlled release system for salicylic acid (SA) through ionotropic gelation of chitosan (CTS) using tripolyphosphate (TPP) as cross-linker. The synthesized nanoparticles (SA/CTS NPs) were characterized for their physicochemical properties by various techniques including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with an energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). A maximum encapsulation efficiency (EE) of 84% was obtained. The obtained material not only was tested as drug delivery system in neutral (pH 7.4) and acidic medium (pH 5.5) but also the kinetic release behavior of SA from the CTS NPs was investigated based on two models namely Korsmeyer-Peppas and Higuchi. These data demonstrated that the drug release mechanism governed by Korsmeyer-Peppas model. Finally, the cytotoxic effects of free SA and SA/CTS NPs were evaluated in-vitro against breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cell lines by MTT assay. Results showed that SA/CTS NPs were more cytotoxic than free SA. This work suggested the potential of SA/CTS NPs system as an effective anticancer system.
