Preparation of Serotonin-Imprinted Nanospheres as Novel Drug Delivery System

For the first time in this work, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) nanosphere for Serotonin have been synthesized by precipitation polymerization. The molecularly imprinted nanospheres were prepared using Serotonin as the template molecule, methacrylic acid (MAA) as a functional monomer and trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TRIM) as a cross-linker . Morphological properties were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the binding properties of the imprinted nanospheres were studied by equilibrium binding test. The applicability of the obtained materials as drug delivery devices was evaluated by performing in vitro release studies. Serotonin loading and release experiments demonstrated that the MIPs nanospheres exhibited a higher loading capacity and a much longer period of sustained Serotonin release than non-imprinted polymers (NIPs) nanospheres due to the interaction of Serotonin with the Serotonin -imprinted cavities within the MIPs nanospheres. The MIPs nanospheres exhibited a good controlled Serotonin release profile. This new MIPs nanospheres can utilize as a novel drug delivery devices due to its improved properties.