Acetylated cashew gum nanoparticles for mesalazine delivery

Abstract

We encapsulated mesalazine (MSZ) in nanoparticles (NP) of acetylated cashew gum (ACG) in order to improve its absorption in the colon. NPs were synthesized by the dialysis method and different polymer:drug ratios (10:1, 10:2 and 10:5) were investigated. The NP-ACG-MSZ had a size of 273 ± 6.76 nm, PDI 0.10 ± 0.02 and zeta potential -43.2 ± 8.15 mV. SEM demonstrated spherical morphology. XRD analysis showed that the incorporation of the drug in crystalline state into polymeric nanoparticles made it more stable. In vitro release studies showed that switching to pH 6.8 increased release to 62.08 ± 6.03%, which remained at pH 7.4 and sustained release of 95.61 ± 3.25% was observed. In vitro cytotoxicity test demonstrated that NP-ACG (with or without MSZ) showed no basal cytotoxicity in CT26 cells up to a concentration of 131 μg/mL. NP-ACG has shown to be a promising vector for the sustained release of MSZ in the colon when administered orally .