Ultra-Small Algal Chitosan Ocular Nanoparticles With Iron-Binding Milk Protein Prevents the Toxic Effects of Carbendazim Pesticide

Abstract

Aim: To fabricate ultra-small algal chitosan nanoparticles (US CS NPs) for efficient delivery of bovine lactoferrin (bLf) to ocular tissues through topical administration to prevent carbendazim-induced toxicity. Materials & methods: Rat eye model was used to evaluate the in vivo biodistribution the US CS NPs and bovine eye model was used for evaluating ex vivo biodistribution. Human lens epithelial cell line (HLEB-3) model was used to evaluate the in vitro toxicity, uptake mechanism and in vitro efficacy of the synthesized bLf-US CS NPs over carbendazim-induced ocular toxicity. Results: The in vivo and ex vivo biodistribution results suggest that the ultra-small CS NPs efficiently internalize into the ocular tissues within 1 h after administering topically. Ultra-small algal nanocarriers to encapsulate bioactive antioxidant bLf protein and evaluated its potential in inhibiting carbendazim-induced human lens cell apoptosis and oxidative stress. bLf-encapsulated ultra-small algal US CS NPs prevented carbendazim-induced human lens cell apoptosis and oxidative stress. Conclusion: US CS NPs could be explored for their potential for delivering various ocular drugs through topical administration for other eye diseases including cataract, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration.

Keywords:

• apoptosis
• bovine lactoferrin
• carbendazim
• nanoencapsulation
• ocular drug delivery
• oxidative stress
• topical administration
• ultra-small algal chitosan nanoparticles

Supplementary data

To view the supplementary data that accompany this paper please visit the journal website at:www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.2217/epi-2016-0184

Acknowledgements

Authors would like to thank Nick Branson, Rod Collins, Adrian Cooper, Tania Thorpe, Bruce Newel and Luke Amor from Animal House, Deakin University, for providing their valuable and necessary help in this study. Authors would also like to thank Geoff Garlinge from Australia's Own PTY LTD, NSW Australia for providing bLf.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors would like to thank the Australia–India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF, BF030016, BF060042) and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC, APP1050286) for providing the funding for this project. The authors also would like to thank TERI-DEAKIN Nanobiotechnology Centre for financial support to Pavan Sunkireddy. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.