Zinc Oxide Composites of Doxorubicin in the Form of Coating, Composite Films and Gels with a High Antitumor Activity and Low Toxicity

This work is devoted to the formation doxorubicin (DOX) zinc oxide composites in the form of coating (DOX + ZnO), hydrogels and composite films of DOX with polyvinyl alcohol (DOX + PVA + ZnO) by DC-magnetron deposition of ZnO nanoscale particles (ZnO NPs) on their surfaces (DOX, DOX + PVA) with higher (two times and more) antitumor activity and considerable smaller toxicity at low doses of DOX in compositions compared to the initial drug. Using the methods of spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD), the role of ZnO NPs size on the antitumor activity of doxorubicin zinc oxide compositions is shown. AFM shows presence of many ZnO NPs on the surface DOX. A comparison of the FTIR spectra of DOX and its zinc oxide compositions has shown the presence of new bands of OH valence and deformation vibrations. It is possible to assume that interaction between ZnO and DOX takes place in the form of hydrogen bond, promoting the complexes formation. It is possible that both synergic and hydrogen-bonding ZnO with DOX increase the antitumor activity.