Competing interestsNo potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.
Calcium carbonate has slowly paved its way into the field of nanomaterial research due to its inherent properties: biocompatibility, pH-sensitivity, and slow biodegradability. In our efforts to synthesize calcium carbonate nanoparticles (CSCaCO3NP) from blood cockle shells (Anadara granosa), we developed a simple method to synthesize CSCaCO3NP, and loaded them with gefitinib (GEF) and paclitaxel (PTXL) to produce mono drug-loaded GEF-CSCaCO3NP, PTXL-CSCaCO3NP, and dual drug-loaded GEF-PTXL-CSCaCO3NP without usage of toxic chemicals. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results reveal that the drugs are bound to CSCaCO3NP. Scanning electron microscopy studies reveal that the CSCaCO3NP, GEF-CSCaCO3NP, PTXL-CSCaCO3NP, and GEF-PTXL-CSCaCO3NP are almost spherical nanoparticles, with a diameter of 63.9 ± 22.3, 83.9 ± 28.2, 78.2 ± 26.4, and 87.2 ± 26.7 (nm), respectively. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and N2 adsorption-desorption experiments revealed that the synthesized nanoparticles are negatively charged and mesoporous, with surface areas ranging from ⁓8 to 10 (m2/g). Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) confirms that the synthesized nanoparticles are aragonite. The CSCaCO3NP show excellent alkalinization property in plasma simulating conditions and greater solubility in a moderately acidic pH medium. The release of drugs from the nanoparticles showed zero order kinetics with a slow and sustained release. Therefore, the physico-chemical characteristics and in vitro findings suggest that the drug loaded CSCaCO3NP represent a promising drug delivery system to deliver GEF and PTXL against breast cancer.
Calcium carbonate nanoparticles have salient properties, such as biocompatibility, pH responsiveness, and the ability to alkalinize a tumor, hence reducing metastasis. A combination therapy regimen is normative for breast cancer, where, besides its side effects, toxic vehicles are required for certain drugs. This study is aimed at transforming the readily available Blood cockle shells (Anadara granosa) to calcium carbonate nanoparticles (CSCaCO3NP), loading them with Gefitinib (GEF) and Paclitaxel (PTXL). Facile top-down synthesis of CSCaCO3NP is comprised of grinding, sieving and stirring with Tween 80, followed by filtration and finally dry milling for 100 h. A ratio of 1 + 0.5:25 of GEF+PTXL: CSCaCO3NP in an equal admixture of DMSO and 0.05% Tween 80 buffer was used for drug loading. Loading content (%) and encapsulation efficiency (%) for GEF and PTXL in dual drug-loaded NP (GEF-PTXL-CSCaCO3NP) was 1.98 ± 0.11, 50.01 ± 2.18 and 0.92 ± 0.01, 45.60 ± 0.32. Field emission scanning electron micrographs revealed that the nanoparticles were almost spherical with the average diameter (nm) measuring 63.96 ± 22.3 and 87.20 ± 26.66 for CSCaCO3NP and GEF-PTXL-CSCaCO3NP, respectively. The Dynamic Light Scattering data gives the average diameter of CSCaCO3NP and GEF-PTXL-CSCaCO3NP as 179 ± 10.9 (nm) and 274 ± 23.22 (nm), respectively and polydispersive index of 0.3. Zeta potential was -17 ± 1.15 (mV) and 10.30 ± 1.7 (mV), respectively. Fourier-transform Infrared spectroscopy proves that CSCaCO3NP have encapsulated the drugs. X-Ray Diffraction data indicates that the aragonite phase is unaltered. N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms reveals that CSCaCO3NP are mesoporous and that the surface area had reduced from 10.68 ± 0.22 to 9.88 ± 0.24 m 3 /g after drug loading. For the first time, this work will describe the process that enabled to synthesize CSCaCO3NP which was used as a carrier to load GEF and PTXL and its salient characteristics.
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