Sodium alginate/xanthan-based nanocomposite hydrogels containing 5-fluorouracil: Characterization and cancer cell death studies in presence of halloysite nanotube

• Published in: Journal of industrial and engineering chemistry (Seoul, Korea) Vol. 120; pp. 374 - 386
• Main Authors: Zolfagharian, Shadi, Zahedi, Payam, Shafiee Ardestani, Mehdi, Khatibi, Alireza, Jafarkhani, Saeed
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 25-04-2023; 한국공업화학회
• Subjects: Cervical cancer; Fluorouracil; Halloysite; Nanocomposite hydrogel; Sodium alginate; Xanthan; 화학공학; Xanthan; Nanocomposite hydrogel; Sodium alginate; Halloysite; Cervical cancer; Fluorouracil
• ISSN: 1226-086X; 1876-794X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jiec.2022.12.044

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•Preparing sodium treated HNT (tHNT)/alginate/xanthan/5-FU nanocomposite hydrogels.•Improving thermal/mechanical properties of hydrogels by increasing tHNTs content.•Controlling 5-FU from hydrogels at two different pHs of 5.5 and 7.4.•Enhancing death of HeLa cells using hydrogel scaffolds.
This work was aimed to synthesize 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-loaded sodium alginate (SA)/xanthan gum (Xan) hydrogels containing sulfuric acid-treated halloysite nanotube (tHNT) using free radical polymerization and evaluate their apoptosis against HeLa cells in cervical cancer therapy. The nanocomposite hydrogel including tHNT (SA/Xan: tHNT, 1:1) showed a rough surface with cross-linking density of 171.9 × 10-4 mol/cm3 compared to tHNT-free sample (62.5 × 10-4 mol/cm3). The 5-FU encapsulation efficiency of the samples in the presence and absence of tHNT was obtained approximately 60 % and 76 %, respectively. Moreover, the drug release of the samples with and without tHNT were measured 72 % and 93 % in acidic medium as well as 32 % and 57 % in basic environment after 72 h. Finally, the cytotoxicity results revealed the minimum cell viability (3.3 %) for tHNT-loaded hydrogel sample on the 4th day, and flow cytometry assessments also exhibited that the apoptosis rate of HeLa cells for this sample was 85.4 %, resulting in its remarkable potential for destroying this cancerous cell line.