Crosslinked Dextran Gel Microspheres with Computed Tomography Angiography and Drug Release Function.

For computed tomography (CT) angiography and drug release application, a kind of novel dextran hydrogel microspheres were prepared. β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) grafted poly(methyl vinyl ether-altmaleic acid) (PMVE-alt-MA-g-β-CD) and succinic acid modified dextran (Dex-SA) were first prepared, and then PMVE-alt-MA-g-β-CD was further used as the cross-linking agent to cross link Dex-SA for the formation of dextran hydrogel microspheres by using an inverse suspension polymerization method for the potential interventional embolization. The average diameter of the dextran hydrogel microspheres was 35 μm with 90% ranging from 20 μm to 50 μm. The obtained microspheres showed a rather high swelling rate and loading capacity of drug doxorubicin hydrochloride with content of 9.2 wt%. The results of in vitro experiments showed that about 35.5% of the total amount of the encapsulated doxorubicin hydrochloride can be released after 4 h at 37 °C. The microspheres had a good mechanical stiffness with Young's modulus of about 20.0 kPa. Iodine molecules (I2) can be incorporated within the cavity of grafted cyclodextrin only through simply soaking in I2 aqueous solution, and these I2-loaded microspheres can preliminarily realize the function of CT angiography. This kind of dextran hydrogel microspheres with good biocompatibility would be a promising embolization material.