A polyphenolic biomacromolecule prepared from a flavonoid: Catechin as degradable microparticles

Catechin (CAT) was crosslinked with trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether(TMPTGE) to obtain degradable poly(CAT) particles in a single step. Sphericalp(CAT) particles with tens of micrometer size range and an isoelectronic pointat pH 1.2 were obtained. The hydrolytic degradation of p(CAT) particles pro-vided sustainable and extended release with 264 mg/g CAT release within10 days at pH 7.4. The antioxidant capacity of 55.0 ± 0.9μg/ml gallic acidequivalent in terms of total phenol content, and 0.88 ± 0.3μmol/g trolox equiv-alent were estimated for p(CAT) particles displaying strong radical scavengingcapability. Blood clotting and hemolysis assays demonstrated dose-dependentblood compatibility revealing higher blood compatibility for p(CAT) particlesup to 10μg/ml concentration. The cytotoxicity results show that p(CAT) parti-cles have almost no toxicity for CCD841 normal colon cells at 250μg/ml con-centration in 24 h incubation time giving ~97% cell viability, whereas CATmolecules only provide ~34% cell viability