Anthocyanin-loaded polymeric dextran nanoparticle as an anti-proliferative agent on human liver carcinoma cells

Abstract

In this communication, anthocyanin-loaded dextran nanoparticles from Clitoria ternatea was synthesized and characterized to test its anti-proliferative activity on the human HepG2 liver cancer cell lines. By using dextran as an encapsulant polymer, the nanoparticles appeared to be spherical, with an average size of 45.5 ± 11 nm. The surface charge of the anthocyanin-loaded dextran nanoparticle was -4.39 mV, which slightly relative to free anthocyanin (-4.46 mV), which indicate good dispersion stabilities. The Fourier transform infrared analysis showed that the anthocyanins from C. ternatea was successfully encapsulated in dextran nanoparticles. Overall, the percentage of drug encapsulation efficiency was 3.03%. Based on the stability test, the anthocyanin-loaded dextran nanoparticle showed significantly better color stability index compared to free anthocyanin, particularly at the presence of light and temperature of 37°C and 50°C. In the anti-proliferation assay on HepG2 liver cancer cell lines, the viability of the cancer cells was significantly reduced after treatment with the anthocyanin-loaded dextran nanoparticle. The anti-proliferation activities of the nanoparticles were significantly better than free anthocyanin. Our findings revealed the ability of the anthocyanin-loaded dextran nanoparticle, in particular from C. ternatea, as an effective anti-proliferative agent against cancer cells. Nanoencapsulation with dextran significantly improve the efficacy and stability of the anthocyanins. Further investigations should be done to evaluate the in vivo efficacy.