Improvement of efficacy and decrement cytotoxicity of oxaliplatin anticancer drug using bovine serum albumin nanoparticles: synthesis, characterisation and release behaviour

To sustained release of an anticancer drug, oxaliplatin (OX), a non-toxic and biocompatible nanocarrier based on bovine serum albumin (BSA) were synthesised by desolvation method and characterised using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and dynamic light scattering. The results showed that the BSA nanoparticles (BSANPs) with a mean magnitude of 187.9 +/- 1.2 nm have spherical morphology with a smooth surface and a uniform distribution. Furthermore, OX was loaded onto the BSANPs and the loading was confirmed by FTIR, AFM and FESEM techniques. The percentage of encapsulation efficiency and drug loading were determined by absorption spectroscopy (UV-vis). The drug release studies showed that release of OX from BSANPs exhibited slower release rate. However, the release kinetics followed the first-order kinetic for both of them with the non-Fickian release behaviour. The electrochemical analysis showed stability of OX loaded onto the BSANPs (OX@BSANPs) and confirmed the diffusion mechanism. Furthermore, the results of MTT assay revealed increasing of normal cell viability and cancer cell death in the OX@BSANPs compared to only OX. It was shown that the BSANPs could be safely used as a biocompatible nanocarrier for the sustained release of OX.