Fabrication and study of curcumin loaded nanoparticles based on folate-chitosan for breast cancer therapy application

Purpose of this article is developing novel, inexpensive curcumin loaded chitosan nanoparticles with targeting ability. Curcumin loaded folate-modified-chitosan-nanoparticles (NPs) have been synthesized and fabricated via self-assembling process. Chemical structures of modified chains, nanoparticle size in dry and wet state, zeta potential, morphology of NPs, physical state of curcumin in NPs, drug release profile and cytotoxicity of NPs were investigated by FTIR, FE-SEM, DLS and XRD, UV–vis spectrophotometer, and MTT assay against L929 and MCF7 cell lines, respectively. Results show nanoparticle size in dry state varied in range of 119–127 nm and curcumin was loaded into nanoparticles with 96.47% efficacy. Drug release studies showed by decreasing pH of release medium from 7.4 to 5, release rate of curcumin from NPs increased, which shows pH responsive capacity of folate-modified chitosan nanoparticles. Cell viability studies confirmed that curcumin loaded NPs have good potential as a drug delivery system for breast cancer therapy.