Experimental and theoretical studies on the interaction of finasteride with chitosan-based nanoniosomes

Abstract

This research is aimed to develop a novel finasteride (FIN) release system based on chitosan-based nanoniosomes (CS-Nio) by thin-film hydration method. The particle size analyser illustrated two populations of FIN-loaded CS-Nio nanoformulation. The analysis of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) illustrated that both nanoparticle populations formed spherical micelles with a size between 10 and 40 nm and niosomes with a size between 100 and 200 nm. The drug encapsulation efficiency in the CS-Nio nanoformulation was 84.3 ± 3.5% for 10% of FIN weight in total ingredients of CS-Nio particles (w/w). The optical absorption spectra of the FIN-loaded CS-Nio nanoformulations demonstrated a band maximum at 223 nm compared to theoretical absorption spectra (220 nm). The in vitro release experiments demonstrated that, following drug loading in the micellar/niosome nano-formulation, the drug was released at a rate of 10% on the initial day, escalating to 70% on the tenth day. According to density functional theory (DFT), the drug FIN binds to the carrier mixture with a binding energy of approximately -1.95 eV. Molecular dynamics calculations indicate that the FIN becomes encapsulated within the carrier complex after 1 nanosecond. Thus, this CS-Nio nano-formulation is illustrated to render an optimistic delivery system for FIN drugs with potential for prostate cancer prevention.