Gefitinib loaded PLGA and chitosan coated PLGA nanoparticles with magnified cytotoxicity against A549 lung cancer cell lines

Abdullah S Alshetaili

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.05.025

Gefitinib loaded PLGA and chitosan coated PLGA nanoparticles with magnified cytotoxicity against A549 lung cancer cell lines

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2021 Sep;28(9):5065-5073. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.05.025. Epub 2021 May 20.

Author

Abdullah S Alshetaili¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

In the current study, gefitinib loaded PLGA nanoparticles (GFT-PLGA-NPs) and chitosan coated PLGA nanoparticles (GFT-CS-PLGA-NPs) were synthesized to investigate the role of surface charge of NPs for developing drug delivery system for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The developed NPs were evaluated for their size, PDI, zeta potential (ZP), drug entrapment, drug loading, DSC, FTIR, XRD, in vitro release profile, and morphology. The anti-cancer activity of GFT loaded PLGA NPs and GFT loaded CS-PLGA-NPs were examined in human A549 lung cancer cell lines. In vitro release studies of GFT-CS-PLGA-NPs showed more sustained release in comparison to GFT-PLGA-NPs due surface charge attraction of chitosan. In addition, viability of A549 cells decreases significantly with the increasing concentration of GFT-PLGA NPs and GFT-CS-PLGA-NPs when compared to that of pure GFT and blank PLGA NPs. In addition, the microscopic analysis and counting of viable cells also validate the cytotoxicity of the developed NPs. This investigation proved that the developed NPs would be efficient carriers to deliver GFT with improved efficacy against NSCLC.

Keywords: Chitosan; Gefitinib; MTT assay; Nanoparticles; PLGA.