BACKGROUND: This study reports on hydrophobic drug thymoquinone (TQ), an active compound found in the volatile oil of Nigella sativa that exhibits anticancer activities. Nanoformulation of this drug could potentially increase its bioavailability to specific target cells.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to formulate TQ into polymer micelle, Pluronic F127 (5.0 wt %) and Pluronic F68 (0.1 wt %), as a drug carrier to enhance its solubility and instability in aqueous media.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Polymeric micelles encapsulated TQ were prepared by the microwave-assisted solvent evaporation technique. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer were utilized for qualitative confirmation of micelles encapsulation. The surface morphology and mean particle size of the prepared micelles were determined by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Cytotoxicity effect was studied using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, inner salt (MTS) assay.
RESULTS: Dynamic laser light scattering (DLS) technique showed hydrodynamic size distribution of optimized micelles of 50 nm, which was in close agreement with the mean particle size obtained from TEM of about 51 nm. Drug release study showed the maximum percentage of TQ release at 61% after 72 h, while the entrapment efficiency of TQ obtained was 46% using PF127. The cytotoxic effect of PF127-encapsulated TQ was considerably higher compared to PF68-encapsulated TQ against MCF7 cells, as they exhibited IC50value of 8 μM and 18 μM, respectively.
CONCLUSION: This study suggests higher molecular weight Pluronic polymer micelles (F127) with hydrophilic-hydrophobic segments which could be used as a suitable candidate for sustainable delivery of TQ. However, comprehensive studies should be carried out to establish the suitability of Pluronic F127 as a carrier for other drugs with similar challenges as TQ.
SUMMARY: There is a rising interest in integrating nanotechnology with medicine, creating a nanomedicine aiming for high efficiency and efficacy of disease diagnosis and treatment. In drug delivery, the term nanomedicine describes the nanometer-sized range (1-1000 nm) of a multi-component drug for disease treatments. As such, liposome-based nanoparticulate delivery vehicles have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clinical applications. The main purpose of introducing nanoscale drug delivery is to improve the pharmacological and pharmacokinetic profiles of therapeutic molecules. Drug or therapeutic molecules can be either released through the cleavage of a covalent linkage between drug molecules and polymers (conjugation) or through the diffusion from a drug and polymer blended matrix (physical encapsulation). Polymers play an important role in the design of nanocarriers for therapeutic deliveries. In Asia, Nigella sativa seed oil has been used traditionally for its various medicinal benefits. One of its most potent compound which is thymoquinone has been intensively investigated for its anti-cancer effects in colorectal carcinoma, breast adenocarcinoma, osteosarcoma, ovarian carcinoma, myeloblastic leukemia, and pancreatic carcinoma. In addition, it is reported to show anti-inflammatory potential, antidiabetic, antihistaminic effects, as well as the ability to alleviate respiratory diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease. This study aims to formulate and characterize different pluronic-based thymoquinone nanocarrier and investigate its effect against breast cancer cells Abbreviations Used: ATR-IR: Attenuated Total Reflectance-Infrared Spectroscopy, CH3CN: Acetonitrile, DLS: Dynamic Light Scattering, MTS: [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, NPs: Nanoparticles, PF127/TQ: Pluronic F127 encapsulated TQ, PF68/TQ: Pluronic F68 encapsulated TQ, PLGA: Poly-(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide), PVA: Poly-vinylalcohol, TQ: Thymoquinone, UV/VIS: Ultravioletvisible spectrophotometry.
Magnetic nanocellulose alginate hydrogel beads are produced from the assembly of alginate and magnetic nanocellulose (m-CNCs) as a potential drug delivery system. The m-CNCs were synthesized from cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) that were isolated from rice husks (RH) by co-precipitation method and were incorporated into alginate-based hydrogel beads with the aim of enhancing mechanical strength and regulating drug release behavior. Ibuprofen was chosen as a model drug. The prepared CNCs, m-CNCs and the alginate hydrogel beads were characterized by various physicochemical techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer studies (VSM). Besides the magnetic property, the presence of m-CNCs increased the integrity of the alginate hydrogel beads and the swelling percentage. The drug release study exhibited a controlled release profiles and based on the drug release data, the drug release mechanism was analyzed and discussed based on mathematical models such as Korsmeyer-Peppas and Peppas-Sahlin.
In this study, geopolymer originating from locally industrial byproducts as red mud (RM) was successfully prepared in the presence of different loadings of rice husk ash (RHA) used for the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) in wastewater. During geopolymerization, various mixing amounts between RM and RHA were conducted when the weight ratio of binder solution/activated alkali-metal solution (Na2SiO3/ NaOH 7 M) was 2.5 and the curing temperature was set at 60 °C for 24 h. As a result, the surface area value of the prepared geopolymer composited with RHA at 0 and 60% was increased from 19.2 to 29.5 m2/g, while the BJH pore size of the prepared geopolymer was reduced to 6.68 and 5.76 nm, respectively. In the dye removal test, higher additions of RHA in the RM-geopolymer maintained better retention of the MB ion due to the increase in the adsorption binding site. The maximum uptake amount of dyes performed at pH 8 was changed from 6.59 to 10.74 mg/g, while RHA was from 0 to 60% after 180 min of immersion in MB solution. The adsorption isotherms well obeyed the Langmuir model, as the relative coefficient R2 was 0.999. Based on these, the initial agricultural waste as RHA and industrial byproducts as RM were valued as functional materials used for dye treatment in wastewater.
Phytofabrication of the nanoparticles with exotic shape and size is an attractive area where nanostructures with noteworthy physicochemical and optoelectronic properties that can be significantly employed for photocatalytic dye degradation. In this study a medicinal plant, Plumbago auriculata leaf extract (PALE) was used to synthesize zinc oxide particles (ZnOPs) and silver mixed zinc oxide particles (ZnOAg1Ps, ZnOAg10Ps, ZnO10Ag1Ps) by varying the concentration of the metal precursor salts, i.e. zinc acetate and silver nitrate. The PALE showed significantly high concentrations of polyphenols, flavonoids, reducing sugar, starch, citric acid and plumbagin up to 314.3 ± 0.33, 960.0 ± 2.88, 121.3 ± 4.60, 150.3 ± 3.17, 109.4 ± 2.36, and 260.4 ± 8.90 μg/ml, respectively which might play an important role for green synthesis and capping of the phytogenic nanoparticles. The resulting particles were polydispersed which were mostly irregular, spherical, hexagonal and rod like in shape. The pristine ZnOPs exhibited a UV absorption band at 352 nm which shifted around 370 in the Ag mixed ZnOPs with concomitant appearance of peaks at 560 and 635 nm in ZnO10Ag1Ps and ZnOAg1Ps, respectively. The majority of the ZnOPs, ZnOAg1Ps, ZnOAg10Ps, and ZnO10Ag1Ps were 407, 98, 231, and 90 nm in size, respectively. Energy dispersive spectra confirmed the elemental composition of the particles while Fourier transform infrared spectra showed the involvement of the peptide and methyl functional groups in the synthesis and capping of the particles. The composites exhibited superior photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye, maximum being 95.7% by the ZnOAg10Ps with a rate constant of 0.0463 s-1 following a first order kinetic model. The present result clearly highlights that Ag mixed ZnOPs synthesized using Plumbago auriculata leaf extract (PALE) can play a critical role in removal of hazardous dyes from effluents of textile and dye industries. Further expanding the application of these phytofabricated composites will promote a significant complementary and alternative strategy for treating refractory pollutants from wastewater.