Development of Silymarin Entrapped Chitosan Phthalate Nanoparticles for Targeting Colon Cancer

The present paper deals with the development of silymarin entrapped Chitosan Phthalate (CP) nanoparticles for targeting colon cancer. The QbD approach is applied to optimize the silymarin loaded chitosan phthalate nanoparticles. DOE was employed to evaluate the dependent variables from the responses of CP nanoparticles. The CP NPs were found to be 140% of mucoadhesivity at pH 7.4, superior to pH 1.2 (10%). The result revealed the chemical or ionic bond formation between the positively charged amino groups of chitosan phthalate and the negatively charged sialic acid residue of mucin present in the mucous membrane. In vitro drug release profiles were carried out under acidic and basic pH conditions. The release of encapsulated silymarin was found to be poor in acidic conditions and maximum in basic conditions. The results suggested that chitosan phthalate nanoparticles could have the potential to enhance the bioavailability of silymarin.