Development and Evaluation of Ursolic Acid Co-Delivered Tamoxifen Loaded Dammar Gum Nanoparticles to Combat Cancer

Abstract

Therapeutic approaches used to manage cancer, are often associated with drug tolerance or multidrug resistance. The anticancer activity exhibited by plant secondary metabolites can be effectively enhanced by formulating them at nanometric scale. Ursolic acid (UA) is a pentacyclic triterpenoid that reduces cancer proliferation by interfering cell growth regulation. Tamoxifen (TAM) is an adjuvant molecule employed for hormonal therapy of cancer especially breast cancer. To improve the bioavailability and synergism, UA and TAM loaded Dammar gum nanoparticles (UTDNPs) were prepared in current study by employing oil in oil (O/O) emulsion solvent evaporation method. Zeta potential value of UTDNPs was found to be +23 mV demonstrating relative stability of nanoformulation. The percentage encapsulation efficiency value was found to be 72.5% for UA and 76.6% for TAM. The UTDNPs posses particle size in the range of 45–55 nm as revealed by transmission electron microscopy. The UTDNPs showed sustained release and their anti-oxidant and anti-cancer potential was much more pronounced than free UA and TAM particles alone. The in vitro studies demonstrated that UA and TAM encapsulated in dammar gum inhibited growth of A-549, MCF-7, and Hela cell lines more effectively than UA and TAM alone which proved their robust anticancer potential.