Development of nanostructured lipid carriers as carrier system of Curcuma longa extract and in vitro biological evaluation in bladder cancer cells

Bladder cancer (BC) stands out as the second most common genitourinary disease type and the tenth one with the highest incidence in Brazil, being responsible for about 4020 deaths per year. The data reflect the low efficacy of the available treatments. Thus, new molecules and release systems are being investigated for intravesical BC therapy. In this line, Copaifera oleoresins and phenolic compounds such as curcumin (CM) and demethoxycurcumin (DCM) present in Curcuma longa extract, have been the subject of research because they have antitumor, antiproliferative and proapoptotic properties. However, administration of these compounds in their free form becomes infeasible due to their high liposolubility and instability. Therefore, the use of Copaifera duckei oleoresin (Cd-O) in the preparation of nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) for the encapsulation of C. longa extract (CLE) could be an effective therapeutic strategy, in addition to transposing some barriers of intravesical therapy such as the low permeation of molecules in the urothelium and its low residence time in the bladder. Thus, the aims of the present study were to prepare and characterize NLC (with Cd-O) and imperfect NLC (without Cd-O, NLCimp) for the encapsulation of CLE, and to evaluate the cytotoxicity of these carrier systems in BC cells. The NLC and NLCimp, prepared by the hot emulsion and sonication method, were characterized by their diameter, polydispersity index (PdI), zeta potential (ZP), crystallinity, encapsulation efficiency (EE) by HPLC, encapsulation capacity (EC) and morphology. In addition, the cytotoxicity of NLCs with and without CLE was evaluated in RT4 cells and cell uptake studies were conducted. Carriers with diameter about 200 nm, low PdI (<0.3) and negative ZP (~-20 mV) were obtained. ECL was characterized and quantified by HPLC with a purity of 97.90% for CM and 99.29% for DCM. Both molecules were encapsulated in the two NLCs with high EE (~70%). The encapsulation of CLE did not significantly alter the physical properties of NLCs. Both NLCs presented low recrystallization index (~60%), spherical shape and smooth surface. The NLC and NLCimp were stable over 420 and 270 days, respectively. On the other hand, NLC-CLE and NLCimp-CLE were stable for 90 days. The IC50 of NLC without CLE (0.019x1012 particles/mL) was lower than the IC50 of NLCimp without CLE (> 0.061x1012 particles/mL). The encapsulation of CLE by NLCs did not significantly alter its IC50 in the incubation periods evaluated. The encapsulation of CLE by the NLCimp decreased its IC50 (19.15 ?g/mL) (0.047x1012 particles/mL) in relation to the empty CLNimp. It was observed higher cellular uptake of the carriers with CLE in relation to free CLE. In addition, fragmentation of the nucleus of the cells that internalized NLC-CLE was observed. The interesting physical and biological properties presented by empty NLC and NLCimp-CLE systems indicate their therapeutic potential and make them promising for future bladder cancer therapy (AU)