Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (NLCs)
as oral cancer drug delivery are subject to interference in the
gastrointestinal system. Extreme pH conditions in the stomach and intestines
can destabilize NLCs. Chitosan can protect from degradation and slow the
diffusion of curcumin. The material needs to be modified again to improve its
selectivity. Folic acid receptor content, which is generally overexpressed in
cancer cells, is utilized as a targeting agent. Chitosan conjugated with folic
acid as a coating for NLCs can suppress the release of curcumin in the
gastrointestinal tract while enhancing its therapeutic properties. Chitosan was
isolated from the gold snail shell through the stages of deproteination,
demineralization, and deacetylation. Chitosan (55.45% yield) was conjugated
with folic acid (CS-FA) through a coupling reaction. Both chitosan and CS-FA
materials were coated on curcumin-loaded NLCs (Cur@NLCs) in a ratio of 1:10.
The Cur@NLCs material showed a decrease in potential zeta value to -41.6 mV
after chitosan coating and was in a stable potential zeta value. The CS-FA
coated material conducted a release study in 0.1 N HCl media pH 1.2 showed a
release of 4.8% then in phosphate buffer (PBS) pH 7.4 of 31.06% (7th
h) and increased to 83.65% (72nd h). Release values reaching 99.13%
(72nd h) were shown when entering PBS pH 6.8 media at the 7th
hour. The coating modification increased the toxicity of curcumin to 12.87
µg/mL (T-47D; 24 h). This indicates that this modification can reduce the
release of the drug and facilitate its entry into cancer cells.
