Ellagic acid encapsulated chitosan nanoparticles for drug delivery system in human oral cancer cell line (KB)

Ellagic acid (EA), a naturally occurring polyphenolic compound is well documented for its anticancer property in numerous pre-clinical models. The properties like poor water solubility and limited oral bio-availability of ellagic acid has hampered its clinical applications. The present study, reports the preparation of ellagic acid encapsulated chitosan nanoparticles (EA@CS-NP) by ionic gelation method as an effective drug delivery for oral cancer treatment. The synthesized ellagic acid nanoparticle is spherical shaped with an average particle size of 176 nm. The drug-encapsulation and loading-efficiency of the nanoparticles were 94 +/- 1.03% and 33 +/- 2.15% respectively. The in vitro drug release profile in the PBS medium shows sustained release of EA from EA@CS-NP. Further, this study evaluates the therapeutic efficacy of EA@CS-NP in human oral cancer cell line (KB) using MTT and DNA fragmentation analysis. EA@CS-NP exhibit significant cytotoxicity in KB cells in a dose-dependent manner with a very low IC50 value compared to the free EA. The results of the present study strengthen our hypothesis and hope that this novel formulation could possibly overcome the current limitations of ellagic acid and can open a new avenue for oral cancer therapy. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.