R S Singh

Development and characterization of folate anchored Saquinavir entrapped PLGA nanoparticles for anti-tumor activity

Abstract Objective: Saquinavir (SQV) is a US-FDA approved HIV protease inhibitor (HPI) for HIV cure. The purpose of the present investigation was to develop and characterize the anticancer potential of the SQV-loaded folic acid (FA) conjugated PEGylated and non-PEGylated poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) (SQV–Fol–PEG–PLGA and SQV–Fol–PLGA) employing PC-3 (human prostate) and MCF-7 (human breast) cancer cell lines. Materials and methods: Developed NPs were characterized by IR, NMR, DSC, XRD, size, charge and further tested for drug loading and cellular uptake properties. Result: The entrapment efficiency was found to be 56 ± 0.60 and 58 ± 0.80 w/v for SQV–Fol–PEG–PLGA and SQV–PLGA NPs, respectively. The obtained results of SQV–Fol–PEG–PLGA showed enhanced cytotoxicity and cellular uptake and were most preferentially taken up by the cancerous cells via folate receptor-mediated endocytosis (RME) mechanism. At 260 µM concentration, SQV–PLGA NPs and SQV–Fol–PEG–PLGA NPs showed 20%, 20% and 23% cell growth inhibition in PC-3 cells, respectively whereas in MCF-7 cells it was 12%, 15% and 14% cell growth inhibition, respectively. Conclusions: Developed targeted SQV–Fol–PEG–PLGA NPs were superior anticancer potential as compared to non-targeted SQV–PLGA NPs. Thus, these targeted NPs provide another option for anticancer drug delivery scientists.

Bacteriological quality of infant milk foods.

Ten samples of baby foods comprising seven brands of infant milk foods and three brands of milk-cereal weaning foods were examined for incidence of different types of microorganisms. One brand of infant milk food with 91 × 102 organisms also exhibited the maximum number of staphylococci and some of these were coagulase positive. Some staphylococcal isolates showed thermostable deoxyribonuclease (DNase) activity and also produced enterotoxins A or B. One sample of weaning food showed high counts of Bacillus cereus . In one of the reconstituted baby food samples when held at ambient temp. (37.5 C), the Staphylococcus aureus and B. cereus counts increased 10-fold in 3 h.