Brucine PEGylated Nanoemulsion: In vitro and In vivo Evaluation

Abstract Cancer represents one of the most life threatening disease worldwide. Poly ethylene glycol nanoemulsion (PEG-NE), a new drug delivery system (DDS) is widely utilized for encapsulating water insoluble drugs and delivering it into cancerous tissue following its intravenous injection. Brucine (BRU) is an effective anti-carcinogenic agent toward different cancer cell lines; however, its low solubility represents a great obstacle in its formulation. The objective of this investigation was to develop and evaluate BRU-PEG-NE. Physicochemical evaluation including, viscosity, particle size and entrapment efficiency investigations were performed. Quantitative and qualitative estimation of total serum protein adsorbed onto the surface of BRU-NE were performed. in vitro release studies of BRU-NE with and without serum incubation were assayed. Formulations were tested for their cytotoxic activity using MTT assay. Finally, in-vivo anticancer effect was evaluated in tumor-inoculated mice. Homogenous NEs were obtained with particle size less than 140 nm and viscosity less than 3.3 cP for BRU-PEG-NE. Total serum protein adsorbed was less than 17.33 ± 0.76 μg/μmol total lipid for BRU-PEG-NE. in vitro drug release was less than 65 % over 24 h for PEG-NE. As well, PEG-NEs could achieve significant inhibition for the viability of cancer cells. Finally, significant reduction in tumor growth rate and mortality rate for BRU PEG-NE formulations were obtained. The obtained results suggested that BRU PEG NE could be considered as a potential mean for cancer therapy.