Conventional and PEGylated Liposomes as Vehicles of <i>Copaifera sabulicola</i>
Ian M. R. Blanco,
Raquel de Melo Barbosa,
Julita M. P. Borges,
Silvio A. B. Vieira de Melo,
Ramon dos Santos El-Bachá,
César Viseras,
Patricia Severino,
Elena Sanchez-Lopez,
Eliana B. Souto,
Elaine Cabral-Albuquerque
Affiliations
Ian M. R. Blanco
Industrial Engineering Program, Polytechnic School, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador 40210-630, Bahia, Brazil
Raquel de Melo Barbosa
Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology, School of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Campus of Cartuja s/n, 18071 Granada, Spain
Julita M. P. Borges
Department of Science and Technology, State University of Southwestern Bahia, Salvador 45083-900, Bahia, Brazil
Silvio A. B. Vieira de Melo
Industrial Engineering Program, Polytechnic School, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador 40210-630, Bahia, Brazil
Ramon dos Santos El-Bachá
Laboratory of Neurochemistry and Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Institute of Health Sciences, UFBA, Salvador 40170-110, Bahia, Brazil
César Viseras
Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology, School of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Campus of Cartuja s/n, 18071 Granada, Spain
Patricia Severino
Biotechnological Postgraduate Program, Tiradentes University, Aracaju 49010-390, Sergipe, Brazil
Elena Sanchez-Lopez
Department of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Technology and Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, University of Barcelona, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
Eliana B. Souto
UCIBIO—Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit, MEDTECH, Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology, Department of Drug Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
Elaine Cabral-Albuquerque
Industrial Engineering Program, Polytechnic School, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador 40210-630, Bahia, Brazil
Traditional medicine uses resin oils extracted from plants of the genus Copaifera for several purposes. Resin oils are being studied to understand and profile their pharmacological properties. The aim of this work was to prepare and to characterize conventional and pegylated liposomes incorporating resin oils or the hexanic extract obtained from Copaifera sabulicola (copaiba) leaves. The cytotoxic effect of these products was also investigated. Conventional and stealth liposomes with copaiba extract showed similar average diameters (around 126 nm), encapsulation efficiencies greater than 75% and were stable for 90 days. A cytotoxicity test was performed on murine glioma cells and the developed liposomes presented antiproliferative action against these cancer cells at the average concentration of 30 μg/mL. Phytochemicals encapsulated in PEGylated liposomes induced greater reduction in the viability of tumor cells. In addition, bioassay-s measured the cytotoxicity of copaiba resin oil (Copaifera sabulicola) in liposomes (conventional and PEGylated), which was also checked against pheochromocytoma PC12 cells. Its safety was verified in normal rat astrocytes. The results indicate that liposomes encapsulating copaiba oil showed cytotoxic activity against the studied tumor strains in a dose-dependent fashion, demonstrating their potential applications as a chemotherapeutic bioactive formulation.
