In vitro and in vivo toxicity assessment of alginate/eudragit S 100-enclosed chitosan-calcium phosphate-loaded iron saturated bovine lactoferrin nanocapsules (Fe-bLf NCs)

Lactoferrin has been known to have antimicrobial properties. This research was conducted to investigate the toxicity of Alginate/EUDRAGIT® S 100-enclosed chitosan-calcium phosphate-loaded Fe-bLf nanocapsules (NCs) by in vitro and in vivo assays. Brine shrimp lethality assay showed that the LC50 value of NCs was more than 1 mg/mL which indicated that NCs was not toxic to Brine shrimp. However, the LC50 values for the positive control potassium dichromate at 24 h is 64.15 μg/mL, which was demostrated the toxic effect against the brine shrimp. MTT cytotoxicity assay also revealed that NCs was not toxic against non-cancerous Vero cell line with IC50 values of 536 μg/mL. Genotoxicity studies by comet assay on Vero cells revealed that NCs exerted no significant genotoxic at 100 μg/mL without tail or shorter comet tail. Allium cepa root assay carried out at 125, 250, 500 and 1000 μg/mL for 24 h revealed that the NCs was destitute of significant genotoxic effect under experimental conditions. The results show that there is no significant difference (p > 0.05) in mitotic index between the deionized water and NCs treated Allium cepa root tip cells. In conclusion, no toxicity was observed in NCs in this study. Therefore, nontoxic NCs has the good potential to develop as a therapeutic agent.