Curcumin and quercetin loaded nanocochleates gel formulation for localized application in breast cancer therapy

Meena Tilawat; Smita Bonde

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22892

Curcumin and quercetin loaded nanocochleates gel formulation for localized application in breast cancer therapy

Heliyon. 2023 Nov 27;9(12):e22892. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22892. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Meena Tilawat^{1

2}, Smita Bonde^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ SVKM's NMIMS, School of Pharmacy and Technology Management, Shirpur Campus, Maharashtra, India.
² Department of Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance, R C Patel Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Shirpur, Dist. Dhule, 425405, Maharashtra, India.
³ SSR College of Pharmacy, 396230, UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Silvassa, India.

Abstract

After surgical excision of breast cancer, chemotherapy is recommended to eradicate any undiagnosed cancer cells and lower the likelihood of the cancer recurring. Curcumin and quercetin are two old flavonoid medicines used to treat breast cancer. Besides ambient popularity, they possess poor water solubility and poor bioavailability, limiting their usefulness. Hence to overcome these limitations, the present research aims to formulate curcumin and quercetin-loaded nanocochleates and convert them into a gel for localized application to enhance the breast cancer treatment. In this research article, we have developed curcumin and quercetin-loaded nanocochleates gel for breast cancer adjuvant therapy. The particle size, zeta potential encapsulation efficiency, and drug release of quercetin nanocochleates were 327 nm, -16.8 mV, 83.28 %, and 80.23 %, respectively, and that of curcumin nanocochleates were 328.6 nm, -15.0 mV, 82.30 %, and 77.19 %, respectively. The quercetin and curcumin-loaded nanocochleates gel was further characterized for pH, spreadability, and viscosity. The in vitro drug release behaviour of gel is controlled compared to plain quercetin and quercetin nanocochleates. The release of quercetin and curcumin from nanocochleates gel was 78.19 %, and 77.19 %, respectively. The MTT assay results showed quercetin and curcumin-loaded nanocochleates have maximum inhibition compared to control, quercetin alone, quercetin liposomes, and quercetin nanocochleates. Thus the quercetin and curcumin combination nanocochleates gel formulation can be a better option for the localized application in the breast cancer treatment.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Curcumin; Gel; Localized treatment; Nanocochleates; Quercetin.