Doxorubicin (DOX) is the most commonly used anticancer drug; however, it has limited use because prolonged administration may result in severe cardiotoxicity. Simvastatin (SIM), generally prescribed for hypercholesterolaemia, has also shown salubrious results in the monotherapy or combinational drug therapy of different cancers in various models. Nanoparticle drug delivery systems are a novel way of improving therapeutics and also improving the absorption and specificity of drugs towards tumour cells. In this study, we exploited this technology to increase drug specificity and minimize imminent adverse effects. In this study, the antitumour activity of the combination formulas of DOX and SIM, either loaded in water (DOX-SIM-Solution) or nanoemulsions (NEs) (DOX-SIM-NE), was evaluated in a Swiss albino mouse model of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma. The anticancer effect was assessed by quantifying the change in body weight, mean survival time, and percent increase in lifespan (%ILS), determining haematological and serum biochemical parameters (liver function test, kidney function test and lipid profile parameters) as well as studying the histopathological alterations in liver tissues. We observed a clear increase in %ILS of the DOX-SIM-Solution group (265.30) that was double the %ILS of the DOX-SIM-NE group (134.70). However, DOX-SIM-NE had a non-toxic effect on the haematological parameters, whereas DOX-SIM-Solution increased the levels of haemoglobin and lymphocytes. Furthermore, the encapsulation of SIM and DOX into NEs improved the levels of all serum biochemical parameters compared to the DOX-SIM-Solution. A reduction in the side effects of DOX-SIM-NE on the liver was also established using light microscopy, which revealed that the morphologies of the hepatocytes of the mice were less affected by administration of the DOX-SIM-NE treatment than with the DOX-SIM-Solution treatment. The study showed that incorporating SIM into the DOX-loaded-NE formulation remarkably improved its efficiency and simultaneously reduced its adverse effects.
Keywords: Ehrlich ascites; antitumour; carcinoma; doxorubicin; nanoemulsion; simvastatin.
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.