Design and fabrication of melphalan (MPN) and vincristine (VCR) loaded carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) nanoparticles for promising antibacterial and anticancer therapy in liver cancer cells.

Although the literature has shown the use of Vincristine (VCR) in conjunction with other chemotherapeutic agents for liver cancer, the efficiency of VCR combined with Melphalan (MPN). The clinical bioactivity and therapeutic efficacy of anticancer drugs are significantly constrained by inadequate targeting and adverse effects. NDDSs provide a superior approach to mitigate the limitations of small molecule anticancer agents. This investigation developed carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC), an effective aqueous-soluble chitosan (CS) derivative, by a chemical method and utilized it for the combination administration of Melphalan (MPN) and Vincristine (VCR). Carboxymethylation at the -OH and -NH2 groups of CS was verified by the FTIR. The CMC's ability to deliver drugs in a sustained and protracted way is demonstrated by the release profiles obtained. MPN + VCR@CMC NPs show excellent anticancer activity against HepG2 liver cancer cells at 14.9μg/ml and can induce 50 % cell death by generating oxidative stress. MPN + VCR@CMC NPs displays E. coli S. aureus and B. subtilis bacterial strains. Further, the apoptosis was confirmed by AO-EB and flow cytometry analysis. MPN + VCR@CMC NPs show excellent hemocompatibility. Overall, the outcomes revealed that MPN + VCR@CMC NPs for prolonged drug delivery and enhanced apoptotic efficacy as a chemotherapeutic agent.