Biodegradable hydrogel from pectin and carboxymethyl cellulose with Silibinin loading for lung tumor therapy

Serious side effects of chemotherapy drugs greatly limited the anticancer performance, while targeted drug delivery could improve the therapeutic effect and reduce side effects. In this work, biodegradable hydrogel was fabricated from pectin hydrazide (pec-H) and oxidized carboxymethyl cellulose (DCMC) for localized Silibinin delivery in lung adenocarcinoma treatment. The self-healing pec-H/DCMC hydrogel showed blood compatibility and cell compatibility both in vitro and in vivo, and could be degraded by enzymes. The hydrogel also formed fast fit for injectable applications and showed sustained drug release characteristic sensitive to pH based on acylhydrzone bond cross-linked networks. The Silibinin, as a specific lung cancer inhibiting drug targets TMEM16A ion channel, was loaded into the pec-H/DCMC hydrogel to treat the lung cancer in mice model. The results showed that the hydrogel loaded Silibinin significantly enhanced the anti-tumor efficiency in vivo and greatly reduced the toxicity of the Silibinin. Based on the dual effect of improving efficacy and reducing side effects, the pec-H/DCMC hydrogel with Silibinin loading have broad application prospects to inhibit lung tumor growth in clinic.

Automated summary

Serious side effects of chemotherapy drugs can be limited by targeted drug delivery using biodegradable hydrogel. In this study, a hydrogel made from pectin hydrazide (pec-H) and oxidized carboxymethyl cellulose (DCMC) was developed for localized Silibinin delivery in lung adenocarcinoma treatment. The hydrogel showed blood and cell compatibility, enzyme degradability, and pH-sensitive sustained drug release. In vivo experiments showed that the hydrogel-loaded Silibinin significantly enhanced anti-tumor efficiency and reduced toxicity. The pec-H/DCMC hydrogel loaded with Silibinin has promising prospects for inhibiting lung tumor growth in clinical applications.