Gefitinib loaded nanostructured lipid carriers: characterization, evaluation and anti-human colon cancer activity in vitro

Figures & data

Table 1. Formula for the preparation of different NANOGEF formulations.

Formulation Code	Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) (mg)	Tween 80* (T80) (µl)
TNG	–	100
SNG	75	–
STNG	50	25
TSNG	25	75

*Density = 1.07 g/cm³.

Figure 1. TEM, size and zeta potential of SNG (a) (size = 102.6 d.nm, ZP = −57.3 mV); TNG (b) (size = 127 d.nm, ZP = −28.9 mV); STNG (c) (size = 92.72 d.nm, ZP = −40.2 mV); TSNG (d) (size = 82.52 d.nm, ZP = −40.6 mV). (n = 1).

Table 2. Results of characterization (size, polydispersity index – PdI, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency – EE) of NANOGEFs.

Formulation Code	Size (d.nm) (n = 3) (±SD)	PdI (n = 3) (±SD)	Zeta Potential (mV) (n = 3) (±SD)	EE (%) (n = 3) (±SD)
SNG	129.70 ± 25.69	0.386 ± 0.043	−57.3 ± 3.9	99.85 ± 0.115
TNG	108.33 ± 22.13	0.193 ± 0.093	−27.23 ± 2.39	99.96 ± 0.033
STNG	96.70 ± 6.76	0.168 ± 0.034	−66.7 ± 5.0	99.66 ± 0.184
TSNG	74.06 ± 9.73	0.339 ± 0.029	−42.7 ± 2.44	99.76 ± 0.015

Figure 2. Release pattern of NANOGEF formulations. TNG and SNG exhibited lesser amount of GEF release than TSNG and STNG (p < .05).

Table 3. Correlation coefficients (R²) value for GEF release from different NANOGEFs.

Order of reaction	SNG	TNG	STNG	TSNG
Zero	0.976	0.994	0.777	0.858
First	0.920	0.683	0.967	0.924
Higuchi	0.890	0.910	0.971	0.954
Korsmeyer–Peppas model	0.923	0.759	0.993	0.959

Figure 3. Effect of storage temperature on particle size of NANOGEFs. Storage temperature decreased particle size (p > .05) in case of SNG and TNG (may be because of complete covering of surface by surfactant leads to decrease in size during storage period). STNG (p > .05) and TSNG (p < .05) exhibited increase in particle size.

Figure 4. Effect of storage temperature on polydispersity index (PdI). SNG (p < .05) and STNG (p > .05) exhibited lowering in PdI. TNG and TSNG exhibited increase in PdI (p > .05).

Figure 5. Effect of storage temperature on entrapment efficiency (% EE). All NANOGEFs were estimated to show decrease in EE (p > .05).

Figure 6. Effect of storage temperature on zeta potential. All NANOGEFs were found to exhibit decrease in ZP (p > .05).

Figure 7. Inhibition effect of GEF alone and NANOGEF (TSNG) (p < .05) on HCT 116 cells. Results are presented with means ± SD for n = 3.

Figure 8. HCT 116 cells treated with IC50 concentration of GEF (B), TSNG (C) and Control (A). The red color inside the cells indicates the infiltrated neutral red in dead cells.