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The violet pigment violacein is an indole derivative, isolated mainly from bacteria of the genus Chromobacterium, which exhibits important antitumoral, antimicrobial and antiparasitary properties. Furthermore, the formulation of violacein in different polymeric carriers developed so far offers alternative approaches to overcoming physiological barriers and undesirable physicochemical properties in vivo, thus improving its efficacy.

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The effects of beta-cyclodextrin (betaCD) inclusion complexation on the ability of violacein to prevent gastric ulceration in mice were studied. Violacein-betaCD inclusion complexes were prepared in 1:1 and 1:2 molar ratios and analysed by differential scanning calorimetry and powder X-ray diffractometry. Violacein previously administered orally at 10 mg/kg significantly reduced indomethacin-induced gastric lesions, as well as 100 mg/kg of cimetidine (positive control). However, betaCD complexation in both molar ratios significantly potentiated the protective action of violacein. In the HCl--ethanol-induced gastric ulcer model, violacein and the 1:2 inclusion complex (10 mg/kg, p.o.) inhibited gastric damage by almost 85%, whereas a 63% reduction was observed for the positive control, lansoprazole, at 30 mg/kg. In contrast, treatment with the 1:1 inclusion complex resulted in almost total disappearance of the antiulcer activity in this model. No significant changes in stress-induced gastric injury were found. In addition, the 1:2 inclusion complex improved the antilipoperoxidant activity of violacein in rat liver cells exposed to t-butyl hydroperoxide, whereas the 1:1 complex was less active than violacein. In summary, the 1:2 betaCD inclusion complex has gastroprotective properties similar to or higher than that of violacein. An increase in mucosal defensive mechanisms and protection against peroxidative damage might be involved.

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It has been demonstrated that tumoral cells have a higher uptake of ascorbic acid compared to normal cells. This differential characteristic can be used as a way to improve the specificity of antitumoral compounds if combined with polymeric drug delivery systems. The aim of this study was to prepare, characterize and evaluate the antitumoral activity of poly-D,L-(lactide-co-glycolide) 50:50 loading the antitumoral compound violacein and capped with L-ascorbic acid. Nanoparticles were prepared using the nanoprecipitation method and morphologically characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The average diameter and Zeta potential were determined by photon correlation spectroscopy method (PCS), and assays were carried out to determine the content of ascorbic acid and in vitro drug release kinetics. The antitumoral activity of this system was also evaluated against HL-60 cells by tetrazolium reduction assay. Nanoparticles with size distribution between 300-400 nm and strong negative outer surface (-40 mV) were obtained by this method. Analysis of ascorbic acid content showed that this compound was mainly localized on the external surface of nanoparticles. Violacein loading efficiency was determined as 32% ± 1% and this drug was gradually released from nanoparticles at different rates depending on the composition of the release media. In addition, this system was observed to be 2 × more efficient as an antitumoral compared with free violacein.