Bio-based calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) nanoparticles for drug delivery applications
by Diane Render; Vijay K. Rangari; Shaik Jeelani; Khalda Fadlalla; Temesgen Samuel
International Journal of Biomedical Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IJBNN), Vol. 3, No. 3, 2014

Abstract: Targeted delivery of a cytotoxic drug using a drug delivery system could maximise the efficacy of the drug and reduce the side effects. Calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) nanoparticles are highly porous, biocompatible, biodegradable, and have pH-sensitive properties, which makes them good candidates for biological drug delivery systems. In this study, the nanoparticles were derived from egg shells and studied for their drug loading capacity and cytotoxicity, using human colon adenocarcinoma (SW480), and human dermal fibroblast (HDF) cells. The lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay indicated a 50% cytotoxicity for SW480 cells at a concentration of 0.3 mg/ml, but there was no cytotoxic effect observed in HDF cells at the same concentration. The anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and natural compound indole-3-carbinol (I3C) were loaded into CaCO₃ nanoparticles and release profiles were studied. These results showed that the drugs can be loaded in CaCO₃ nanoparticles and released efficiently. The drug loaded nanoparticles were more cytotoxic compared to the as-received drugs alone. The 5FU-loaded nanoparticles in pH 1.0, 5.0, and 7.4 yielded a total loading and release of 86.98 µg, 77.83 µg, and 162.60 µg respectively. Depending on the pH of the solution, up to 162.60 µg of 5-FU was loaded and released from 50 milligrams of the particles, whereas, up to 563.47 micrograms of I3C was loaded and released from similarly loaded particles. These preliminary results indicate the potential of bio-based CaCO₃ nanoparticles in therapeutic applications.

Online publication date: Fri, 07-Nov-2014

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