A novel mucoadhesive phytic acid grafted chitosan nanocarrier encapsulated with cisplatin for site-specific cervical cancer therapy: in vitro and in vivo assessments
A mucoadhesive vaginal drug delivery system offers a promising strategy to mitigate chemotherapy-associated systemic toxicity in cervical cancer (CC). Metalloenzymes like superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) and catalase are responsible for maintaining oxidant-antioxidant balance in cancer cells. The present study proposed a new approach to prepare cisplatin-loaded phytic acid crosslinked chitosan nanoparticles (CisPANP). CisPANP exhibited a particle size (PS) of 278.24 ± 15.64 nm with a zeta potential of +39 ± 2.46 mV. The nanoparticles demonstrated a sustained drug release behaviour, i.e. 86.85 ± 6.38% drug was released in 24 h. CisPANP were observed to significantly downregulate the expression of SOD and catalase by 3.5 and 1.7-fold, respectively, as compared to untreated cells. CisPANP further increased ROS level and inhibited HeLa cell viability. The