Saponin-loaded chitosan nanoparticles and their cytotoxicity to cancer cell lines in vitro

In this work we developed a nanoformulation for anticancer saponin with chitosan for an enhanced and sustained release. The saponin loaded chitosan nanoparticles showed a particle size of 65 +/- 7 nm. The synthesized nanoparticles were analyzed by FTIR, TG/DTA, SEM and AFM. The cytotoxicity of the nanoparticles was analyzed on L929, NIH-3T3, KB and PC3 which showed particles are non-toxic in a concentration range of 0.1-1.0 mg/ml whereas the nanosaponin showed specific toxicity on PC3 and KB cell lines. The internalization of the nanosaponin on L929 and PC3 was confirmed by Rhodamine conjugation with the nanoparticles. Our preliminary studies support that nanosaponin could be an efficient therapeutic agent for cancer. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.