Chitosan Nanoparticle-Based System: A New Insight into the Promising Controlled Release System for Lung Cancer Treatment.

Lung cancer has been recognized as one of the most often diagnosed and perhaps most lethal cancer diseases worldwide. Conventional chemotherapy for lung cancer-related diseases has bumped into various limitations and challenges, including non-targeted drug delivery, short drug retention period, low therapeutic efficacy, and multidrug resistance (MDR). Chitosan (CS), a natural polymer derived from deacetylation of chitin, and comprised of arbitrarily distributed β-(1-4)-linked d-glucosamine (deacetylated unit) and -acetyl-d-glucosamine (acetylated unit) that exhibits magnificent characteristics, including being mucoadhesive, biodegradable, and biocompatible, has emerged as an essential element for the development of a nano-particulate delivery vehicle.

Increased Cytotoxic Efficacy of Protocatechuic Acid in A549 Human Lung Cancer Delivered via Hydrophobically Modified-Chitosan Nanoparticles As an Anticancer Modality.

The growing incidence of global lung cancer cases against successful treatment modalities has increased the demand for the development of innovative strategies to complement conventional chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. The substitution of chemotherapeutics by naturally occurring phenolic compounds has been touted as a promising research endeavor, as they sideline the side effects of current chemotherapy drugs. However, the therapeutic efficacy of these compounds is conventionally lower than that of chemotherapeutic agents due to their lower solubility and consequently poor intracellular uptake.

Synthesis and Optimization of Chitosan Nanoparticles Loaded with L-Ascorbic Acid and Thymoquinone.

The combination of compounds with different classes (hydrophobic and hydrophilic characters) in single chitosan carrier is a challenge due to the hydrophilicity of chitosan. Utilization of l-ascorbic acid (LAA) and thymoquinone (TQ) compounds as effective antioxidants is marred by poor bioavailability and uptake. Nanoparticles (NPs) solved the problem by functioning as a carrier for them because they have high surface areas for more efficient delivery and uptake by cells.

Increased Loading, Efficacy and Sustained Release of Silibinin, a Poorly Soluble Drug Using Hydrophobically-Modified Chitosan Nanoparticles for Enhanced Delivery of Anticancer Drug Delivery Systems.

Conventional delivery of anticancer drugs is less effective due to pharmacological drawbacks such as lack of aqueous solubility and poor cellular accumulation. This study reports the increased drug loading, therapeutic delivery, and cellular accumulation of silibinin (SLB), a poorly water-soluble phenolic compound using a hydrophobically-modified chitosan nanoparticle (pCNP) system. In this study, chitosan nanoparticles were hydrophobically-modified to confer a palmitoyl group as confirmed by 2,4,6-Trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS) assay.