Combination of Indomethacin with Nanostructured Lipid Carriers for Effective Anticancer Therapy

Abstract

Vaikunthavasan Thiruchenthooran,1 Marta Espina,2,3 Marta Świtalska,4 Lorena Bonilla-Vidal,2,3 Joanna Wietrzyk,4 Maria Luisa Garcia,2,3 Eliana B Souto,5 Elena Sánchez-López,2,3,6,* Anna Gliszczyńska1,* 1Department of Food Chemistry and Biocatalysis, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland; 2Department of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Technology and Physical Chemistry, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; 3Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IN2UB), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; 4Department of Experimental Oncology, Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, Poland; 5Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology, Department of Drug Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; 6Unit of Synthesis and Biomedical Applications of Peptides, IQAC-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Anna Gliszczyńska; Elena Sánchez-López, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: The anticancer potential of indomethacin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in vitro, in vivo, and in clinical trials is well known and widely reported in the literature, along with their side effects, which are mainly observed in the gastrointestinal tract. Here, we present a strategy for the application of the old drug indomethacin as an anticancer agent by encapsulating it in nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC). We describe the production method of IND-NLC, their physicochemical parameters, and the results of their antiproliferative activity against selected cancer cell lines, which were found to be higher compared to the activity of free indomethacin.Methods: IND-NLC were fabricated using the hot high-pressure homogenization method. The nanocarriers were physicochemically characterized, and their biopharmaceutical behaviour and therapeutic efficacy were evaluated in vitro.Results: Lipid nanoparticles IND-NLC exhibited a particle size of 168.1 nm, a negative surface charge (– 30.1 mV), low polydispersity index (PDI of 0.139), and high encapsulation efficiency (over 99%). IND-NLC were stable for over 60 days and retained integrity during storage at 4 °C and 25 °C. The potential therapeutic benefits of IND-NLC were screened using in vitro cancer models, where nanocarriers with encapsulated drug effectively inhibited the growth of breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-468 at dosage 15.7 μM.Conclusion: We successfully developed IND-NLC for delivery of indomethacin to cancer cells and confirmed their antitumoral efficacy in in vitro studies. The results suggest that indomethacin encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles possesses high anticancer potential. Moreover, the presented strategy is highly promising and may offer a new alternative for future therapeutic drug innovations. Keywords: lipid nanoparticles, indomethacin, antitumoral activity, tumor-targeting

Keywords

• lipid nanoparticles
• indomethacin
• antitumoral activity
• tumor-targeting