The potential cytotoxic activity enhancement of α-mangostin in chitosan-kappa carrageenan-loaded nanoparticle against mcf-7 cell line

Abstract

α-mangostin (αM), a xanthone derivative compound isolated from the extract of mango-steen pericarp (Garcinia mangostana L), has potential anticancer properties for breast cancer. How-ever, it has poor solubility in water and low selectivity towards cancer cells. The polymeric nano-particle formulation approach can be used to overcome these problems. In this study, a chitosan biopolymer-based αM polymeric nanoparticle formulation was encapsulated using kappa carra-geenan (αM-Ch/Cr) as a novel carrier for breast cancer therapy and evaluated for their physico-chemical properties, drug release profile, and in vitro cytotoxicity against breast cancer cells (MCF-7). Polymeric nanoparticles formulated with varying concentrations of kappa carrageenan were suc-cessfully prepared by ionic gelation and spray pyrolysis techniques. αM-Ch/Cr nanoparticles formed perfectly round particles with a size of 200–400 nm and entrapment efficiency ≥ 98%. In vitro release studies confirmed that αM-Ch/Cr nanoparticles had a sustained release system profile. Interestingly, the formulation of polymeric nanoparticles significantly (p < 0.05) increased the cyto-toxicity of αM against MCF-7 cell with IC50 value of 4.7 μg/mL compared to the non-nanoparticle with IC50 of 8.2 μg/mL. These results indicate that αM-Ch/Cr nanoparticles have the potential to improve the physicochemical properties and cytotoxicity effects of αM compounds as breast cancer therapy agents.