Anticancer Activity of Diarachidonyl Phosphatidyl Choline Liposomal Curcumin Coated with Chitosan Against Breast and Pancreatic Cancer Cells

Abstract

The distinctive capacity of liposomal systems to entrap both lipophilic and hydrophilic compounds allows the encapsulation of different kinds of drugs into these vesicles. Curcumin is known for its poor aqueous solubility, low bioavailability, and rapid metabolism. To inhibit these limitations, curcumin is mainly encapsulated in liposomes. Generally, DMPC, DPPC, and DSPC liposomes are widely used as a vehicle to encapsulate curcumin. Thus, in our work, curcumin was encapsulated, for the first time, into the bilayer of diarachidonyl phosphatidyl choline liposomes (DAPC), coated by a protective layer using chitosan oligosaccharides lactate (DAPC-Cur-COL NCs). Our results showed that DAPC liposomes ensured an encapsulation efficiency equal to 90% due to its long carbonyl chain compared to others liposomes. Hence, the presence of chitosan increased the encapsulation efficiency of curcumin to 99.40%. The formed nanocapsules were small in size and their anticancer potential was investigated. Interestingly, DAPC-Cur-COL NCs inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 and Capan-1 cell lines by 85% and 90%, respectively. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.