The aim of this study was to prepare Cinnamomum cassia essential oil (CEO) impregnated chitosan nanoparticles (CS-CEO) and assess its pharmacological activity against breast cancer. Cinnamon oil-loaded chitosan nanoparticles were investigated for their physicochemical properties, stability, and anti-cancer activities both in vitro and in vivo. The prepared CS-CEO nanoparticles have a particle size, zeta-potential, entrapment efficiency and drug loading of (215.40 ± 3.90) nm, (51.70 ± 1.90) mV, (83.37 ± 0.4)% and (26.42 ± 0.65)%, respectively. CS-CEO showed a regular, uniform, and spherical or quasi-spherical structure under a transmission electron microscope. CS-CEO remained stable upon storage at 4 °C. CS-CEO exhibited enhanced in vitro antitumor activity (52 μg/mL) compared to CEO. The mechanism might be related to the up-regulation of Caspase-3 and AIF protein expression. In in vivo experiments, CS-CEO suppressed the growth of 4T1 breast cancer cells transplanted into mice, inhibited tumor cell proliferation, and induced apoptosis by reducing the expression of the Ki-67 protein. These results indicated that CEO encapsulated in chitosan had a higher physical stability and was also more effective against 4T1 breast tumor model, which can be used as a reference for the application of volatile oil components in traditional Chinese medicine.
Keywords: Apoptosis; Breast cancer; Chitosan; Cinnamon essential oil; Mitochondrial membrane potential; Nanoparticles.
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