AUTHOR=Radu Ionut-Cristian , Hudita Ariana , Zaharia Catalin , Stanescu Paul O. , Vasile Eugenia , Iovu Horia , Stan Miriana , Ginghina Octav , Galateanu Bianca , Costache Marieta , Langguth Peter , Tsatsakis Aristidis , Velonia Kelly , Negrei Carolina TITLE=Poly(HydroxyButyrate-co-HydroxyValerate) (PHBHV) Nanocarriers for Silymarin Release as Adjuvant Therapy in Colo-rectal Cancer JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology VOLUME=8 YEAR=2017 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2017.00508 DOI=10.3389/fphar.2017.00508 ISSN=1663-9812 ABSTRACT=

The aim of this study was to address one of the major challenges of the actual era of nanomedicine namely, the bioavailability of poorly water soluble drugs such as Silymarin. We developed new, biodegradable, and biocompatible nanosized shuttles for Silymarin targeted delivery in colon-cancer cells. The design of these 100 nm sized carrier nanoparticles was based on natural polymers and their biological properties such as cellular uptake potential, cytotoxicity and 3D penetrability were tested using a colon cancer cell line (HT-29) as the in vitro culture model. Comparative scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements demonstrated that the Silymarin loaded Poly(3-HydroxyButyrate-co-3-HydroxyValerate) (PHBHV) nanocarriers significantly decreased HT-29 cells viability after 6 and 24 h of treatment. Moreover, in vivo-like toxicity studies on multicellular tumor spheroids showed that the Silymarin loaded PHBHV nanocarriers are able to penetrate 3D micro tumors and significantly reduce their size.