Abstract:

We report on the biological performance of organic nanoparticles formed by a simple method based on rapid solvent removal from a volatile microemulsion. The particular focus of the study was on testing the suitability of the method for substances soluble in partially water-miscible organic solvents as well as on evaluating the therapeutic activity of the resultant nanoparticles. Curcumin was employed as a model for hydrophobic drugs, and, as it is soluble in water-miscible organic solvents, it was successfully incorporated into a new cyclopentanone-water microemulsion system. During rapid solvent removal by spray-drying, the nanometric droplets of the microemulsion were converted into nanoparticles containing amorphous curcumin with an average size of 20.2 ± 3.4 nm, having a ζ potential of -36.2 ± 1.8 mV. These nanoparticles were dispersible in water and retained the high loading of the active substance. The therapeutic activity of the resulting nanoparticles was demonstrated in a pancreatic cancer cell line, PANC-1. The effective concentration for reducing the metabolic activity by 50% (EC50) was found to be 11.5 mM for nanoparticles compared with 19.5 µM for free curcumin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]Copyright of Journal of Materials Chemistry B is the property of Royal Society of Chemistry and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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