Host-guest inclusion system of oleanolic acid with methyl-β-cyclodextrin: Preparation, characterization and anticancer activity

In this study, the solid inclusion complex of oleanolic acid (OA) with methyl-β-cyclodextrin (M-β-CD) was prepared and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The inclusion behaviors of OA/M-β-CD complex were studied by fluorescence spectroscopy and the Job plot, which indicated a 1:1 inclusion mode between OA and M-β-CD. The stability constant (Ks) of the complex was 1072.30 ± 20 M−1 determined by spectral titration at 25 °C. Besides, the water solubility of OA was significantly increased to 8.2 mg/mL by inclusion complexation, compared to only ca. 0.012 μg/mL of free OA. The in vitro cytotoxicity of the inclusion complex was noticeably better than that of native OA with the IC50 values of 8.89, 7.89 and 5.77 μM on human cancer cell lines HepG2, HT29 and HCT116, respectively, by MTT assay.