Diclofenac Embedded in Silk Fibroin Fibers as a Drug Delivery System.

Alena Opálková Šišková,Andrej Opálek,Juraj Kronek,Zuzana Kroneková,Anita Eckstein Andicsová,Joanna Rydz,Angela Kleinová,Erika Kozma,Štefan Nagy

doi:10.3390/ma13163580

Abstract

Silk fibroin is a biocompatible, non-toxic, mechanically robust protein, and it is commonly used and studied as a material for biomedical applications. Silk fibroin also gained particular interest as a drug carrier vehicle, and numerous silk formats have been investigated for this purpose. Herein, we have prepared electrospun nanofibers from pure silk fibroin and blended silk fibroin/casein, followed by the incorporation of an anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac. Casein serves as an excipient in pharmaceutical products and has a positive effect on the gradual release of drugs. The characteristics of the investigated composites were estimated by scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, thermogravimetric analysis, and a lifetime of diclofenac by electron paramagnetic resonance analysis. The cumulative release in vitro of diclofenac sodium salt, together with the antiproliferative effect of diclofenac sodium salt-loaded silk nanofibers against the growth of two cancer cell lines, are presented and discussed.

Highlights

During the last decade, both synthetic and natural drug-release materials have been developed for use in drug delivery systems
We have studied the antiproliferative activity of diclofenac sodium salt-embedded electrospun silk mats against cancer human cells derived from the skin (CaSki, epidermoid carcinoma derived from the metastatic site in the small intestine) and cervix (Hela cells)
Electrospun silk fibroin and silk fibroin/casein composites embedded with diclofenac sodium salt were prepared

Summary

Introduction

Both synthetic and natural drug-release materials have been developed for use in drug delivery systems. Most of the drug delivery formulations on the market or in research are based on synthetic polymers, such as polyesters, polyphosphazene, or poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), due to their desirable pharmacokinetics and controllable hydrolytic degradation profiles [1] They are generally considered safe, their inherent properties and processing requirements limit their use in certain sustained delivery areas, such as protein therapeutics, where these issues can impact product stability. Derived biopolymers, such as gelatin, alginates, collagen and cellulose, offer an attractive alternative to synthetic polymers and are currently under investigation for their use in drug delivery formulations [2]. A considerable amount of work has been conducted in the area of silk protein-based materials for drug delivery applications [3]

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