Thymoquinone-loaded lipid nanocapsules with promising anticancer activity for colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common worldwide. Depending on its stage, chemotherapy is usually given after surgery when CRC has already metastasized to other organs like the liver or lungs. Unfortunately, the current antineoplastics used for CRC therapies involve toxicity and side effects due to their lack of site-specificity. To overcome the drawbacks of heavy chemotherapy, this study proposes to assess the efficacy of thymoquinone (TQ), a bioactive constituent of black seeds (Nigella sativa), as an antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic agent on an experimental CRC model in mice. TQ was encapsulated in lipid nanocapsules (LNCs), used as nanocarriers, in order to increase its specificity and cell absorption. TQ-loaded LNCs (TQ-LNCs) have a diameter of 58.3 & PLUSMN; 3.7 nm and 87.7 & PLUSMN; 4.5% TQ encapsulation efficiency. In turn, in vivo studies showed that the intratumoral administration of TQ-LNCs decreased the tumor size in colorectal cancer bearing mice compared to the control group. TQ-LNCs were more effective than free TQ for inducing tumor cell death. These results highlight the potential of TQ entrapped in LNCs as an anticancer agent for CRC treatment. Lipid nanocapsules was used as thymoquinone nano delivery system to treat colorectal cancer (CRC). TQ-LNCs show a suitable mean size particle and a high drug payload, inducing an early decrease in tumor growth following intratumoral administration to mice.

Automated summary

This study investigates the potential use of thymoquinone (TQ) from black seeds as an anticancer agent for colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment. TQ was encapsulated in lipid nanocapsules (LNCs) to enhance its specificity and cell absorption. The results showed that TQ-loaded LNCs (TQ-LNCs) were more effective than free TQ in inducing tumor cell death and reducing tumor size in colorectal cancer-bearing mice.