Development and In vitro characterization of pullulan fast dissolving films loaded with Panax ginseng extract, antioxidant properties and cytotoxic efficiency on lung and breast cancer cell lines

Abstract

The objectives of the current research were to produce fast dissolving oral films (FDOFs) containing standardised freeze-dried ginseng root extract (FDG) and to exploit and evaluate the effect of pullulan on the fast-dissolving oral films to impart desirable features to the drug formulation, such as rapid drug release, high release rates and improve the active ingredients' stability. Pullulan was used as a film-forming polymer and propylene glycol as a plasticizer, and films were produced by a solvent-casting method. The FDOFs were evaluated for the physicomechanical properties such as disintegration, Young's modulus, tensile strength and elongation at the break. The interaction between the polymer and freeze-dried ginseng extract in the film formulation was determined by ATR-FTIR method. Morphological characteristics were identified by scanning electron microscopy. Along with the formulation study, its antioxidant capacity and anti-cancer effect on lung and breast cancer cell lines were also observed. In different antioxidant experiments (FRAP, CUPRAC, DPPH and ABTS), the total antioxidant content of FDG was observed to be between 3.379 and 11,216 mg/g extract. In the present study, we also tested FDG extract on human breast cancer model MCF-7 and human lung cancer model A549 cell lines in vitro. Based on MCF-7 and A549 cell viability results, FDG extract exerted cytotoxicity on both cancer lines in a dose-dependent manner. The results manifested that the FDOFs containing FDG had good physicomechanical properties and fast release profiles. The incorporation of the FDG into the films promoted reduction of the tensile strength and Young's modulus, and an increase in elongation compared to F1. The film exhibited maximal release in 10 min of the active compounds (Rb1 and RG2), and it was more than 97 ± 0.35%. The results may lay the groundwork for future studies, regarding the development of FDOFs as P. ginseng extract-based dosage forms, which might increase the pharmacological activity and multifunctional properties closer to the desired level and may be a useful and effective anticancer-containing product with future in vivo studies.