In vitro comparative studies of Zein nanoparticles and composite Chitosan thermogels based injectable formulation of Doxorubicin

- DOX loaded Zein nanoparticles are synthesized and embedded into the injectable in situ chitosan gel.
- Size analyses were performed to measure the particle size and determine the morphology of the nanoparticles and the gel.
- Drug release kinetics for the nanoparticles and composite gel were compared for their controlled release behavior.
- Effective killing of the breast cancer cells was determined for both DOX-Zein nanoparticles and composite gel in vitro.

Surgical intervention of the solid tumours is the most preferred cancer treatment strategy in the current scenario. But, the main issue is that there is always a probability of resurrection of tumor due to the fact that not all cancer cells can be removed completely. In order to overcome this, controlled delivery of the therapeutic agents into the tumor region after the surgical removal of tumor seems to be a viable option. We developed a composite injectable Chitosan gel (DZ-CGs) comprising of Doxorubicin loaded Zein nanoparticles (DOX-SC ZNPs) which flows (in their sol state) and can take up the exact shape of the void (created by the surgical removal of the tumor) and becomes gel (at physiological temperature). DOX-SC ZNPs were synthesized by anti-solvent nano-precipitation method. The size and zeta potential of DOX-SC ZNPs were found to be 120 ± 16 nm and −26.97 mV respectively. In vitro drug release profiles of DZ-CGs were found to be more controlled when compared to DOX-SC ZNPs. In vitro cyto-toxicity studies of DOX-SC ZNPs and DZ-CGs were compared on human breast cancer cell lines using Transwell insert method and found that composite DZ-CGs were more effective in killing cancer cells when compared to DOX-SC ZNPs.

Schematic representation of DOX loaded Zein nanoparticles embedded in thermo sensitive chitosan gel: the formulation is injected in the tumor region filling the void created after surgery and effectively kills the remnant cancer cells in the tumor region by controlled release of chemotherapeutic drug.166