ANTICANCER EFFECTS OF MODIFIED CITRUS PECTIN AND CURCUMIN IN CHITOSAN NANOPARTICLES ON COLON CANCER

Abstract

We aimed to study the influence of stirring effect while modifying citrus pectin (CP), in addition to create a combination of curcumin in chitosan-modified citrus pectin (CCM-NPs) nanoparticles, along with Galectin-3 in MCP, to produce more effective and possibly free from side effects chemotherapeutics and to improve the galectin yield to enhance the anticancer properties further and improve the specificity as well. CP was modified and the curcumin in chitosan-MCP nanoparticles (CCM-NPs) were formed by ionic gelation. The MCP formulations were studied as a function of stirring duration and the samples were labeled as MCP1, MCP2, and MCP4. The optimum conditions of adding STTP, CS, CUR, and the three formulations prepared (MCP1, MCP2, and MCP4) were studied to prepare the nanoparticles. The MCP1 formulation resulted the smallest size and the best zeta-potential values in comparison to MCP2 and MCP4 when STPP and CS concentrations were varied (STPP-MCP1-NPs showed a size of 240.6 ± 0.60 nm and a zeta-potential of 5.83 ± 0.01 mV when STPP concentration was varied, CS-MCP1-NPs showed a size of 173.6 ± 0.35 nm and a zeta-potential of 4.56 ± 0.01 mV when CS concentration was varied). When the amounts of STPP and CS were varied, 1AC showed as size of 209.4 ± 0.36 nm and a zeta-potential of 10.6 ± 0.02 mV when the amounts of STPP were varied, and 2AC showed a size of 139.3 ± 0.57 nm and a zeta-potential of 16.6 ± 0.02 mV when the amounts of CS were varied. Lastly, when CUR amounts were varied, 3CC showed a size of 351.1 ± 0.53 nm and a zeta-potential of 9.74 ± 0.03 mV. The diffractogram of curcumin shows multiple peaks between 5o and 30° which were mainly attributed to its crystalline nature. These distinctive peaks were disappeared in the CCM-NPs, implying that curcumin’s crystalline constitution had given way to an amorphous state. The morphology of the MCP-NPs and CCM-NPs were investigated using SEM and AFM, and the images indicated an evenly dispersed and spherically shaped nanoparticles. The thermogravimetric analysis of raw materials and CCM-NPs were studied, and the encapsulation efficiency was found to be 99.63%. A curcumin stability test as a function of light was applied and resulted that curcumin degrades the fastest when it is exposed to direct sun light. The curcumin stability in the prepared nanoparticles (CCM-NPs) was studied in different storages (at 4oC and 37oC) and resulted that the nanoparticles are more stable in cold temperatures in comparison to warm temperature. These findings point to the potential application of the encapsulation of curcumin in chitosan-MCP nanoparticles in the delivery of curcumin in the treatment of colon cancer. In vitro cell studies showed that CCM-NPS reduced the viability of colorectal cancer cell lines (HCT-116) by 54.74% ± 0.01% in comparison to free curcumin which reduced 18.69% ± 0.51% of cancer cells at a period of 48 hours. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that this drug delivery system is a highly promising therapeutic approach, potentially leading to a future therapy option for colorectal cancer.