Nanostructured Poly-l-lactide and Polyglycerol Adipate Carriers for the Encapsulation of Usnic Acid: A Promising Approach for Hepatoprotection-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Nanostructured Poly-l-lactide and Polyglycerol Adipate Carriers for the Encapsulation of Usnic Acid: A Promising Approach for Hepatoprotection

Published:2024-02-03 Issue:3 Volume:16 Page:427
ISSN:2073-4360
Container-title:Polymers
language:en
Short-container-title:Polymers

Author:

Brugnoli Benedetta¹^ORCID,Perna Greta¹,Alfano Sara¹^ORCID,Piozzi Antonella¹^ORCID,Galantini Luciano¹^ORCID,Axioti Eleni²^ORCID,Taresco Vincenzo²^ORCID,Mariano Alessia³^ORCID,Scotto d’Abusco Anna³^ORCID,Vecchio Ciprioti Stefano⁴^ORCID,Francolini Iolanda¹^ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le A. Moro, 00185 Rome, Italy

2. School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

3. Department of Biochemical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le A. Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy

4. Department of Basic and Applied Science for Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Via del Castro Laurenziano 7, 00161 Rome, Italy

Abstract

The present study investigates the utilization of nanoparticles based on poly-l-lactide (PLLA) and polyglycerol adipate (PGA), alone and blended, for the encapsulation of usnic acid (UA), a potent natural compound with various therapeutic properties including antimicrobial and anticancer activities. The development of these carriers offers an innovative approach to overcome the challenges associated with usnic acid’s limited aqueous solubility, bioavailability, and hepatotoxicity. The nanosystems were characterized according to their physicochemical properties (among others, size, zeta potential, thermal properties), apparent aqueous solubility, and in vitro cytotoxicity. Interestingly, the nanocarrier obtained with the PLLA-PGA 50/50 weight ratio blend showed both the lowest size and the highest UA apparent solubility as well as the ability to decrease UA cytotoxicity towards human hepatocytes (HepG2 cells). This research opens new avenues for the effective utilization of these highly degradable and biocompatible PLLA-PGA blends as nanocarriers for reducing the cytotoxicity of usnic acid.

Funder

Sapienza University of Rome

Publisher

MDPI AG

Link

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/16/3/427/pdf

Reference55 articles.

1. Engineering precision nanoparticles for drug delivery;Mitchell;Nat. Rev. Drug Discov.,2021

2. Niculescu, A.G., and Grumezescu, A.M. (2021). Polymer-Based Nanosystems—A Versatile Delivery Approach. Materials, 14.

3. Polymer nano-systems for the encapsulation and delivery of active biomacromolecular therapeutic agents;Machtakova;Chem. Soc. Rev.,2022

4. “Smart” Polymer Nanogels as Pharmaceutical Carriers: A Versatile Platform for Programmed Delivery and Diagnostics;Preman;ACS Omega,2021

5. Thymol-Functionalized Hyaluronic Acid as Promising Preservative Biomaterial for the Inhibition of Candida albicans Biofilm Formation;Sturabotti;ACS Macro Lett.,2023