Abstract
Preclinical studies suggest that most of statins or 3‑hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors possess pleiotropic anticancer activity. The aim of the present work was to investigate the conjugation of the statin fluvastatin (FLV) with scorpion venom (SV), a natural peptide with proven anticancer properties, to enhance FLV cytotoxic activity and prepare colon targeted FLV-SV nanoconjugate beads for management of colon cancer. Response surface design was applied for the optimization of FLV-SV nanoconjugates. FLV-SV particle size and zeta potential were selected as responses. Cytotoxicity of optimized FLV-SV nanoconjugates was carried out on Caco2 cell line. Colon targeted alginate coated Eudragit S100 (ES100) beads for the optimized formula was prepared with the utilization of barium sulfate (BaSO4) as radiopaque contrast substance. Results revealed that optimized FLV-SV nanoconjugates showed a size of 71.21 nm, while the zeta potential was equal to 29.13 mV. Caco2 cell were considerably more sensitive to the FLV-SV formula (IC50 = 11.91 µg/mL) compared to SV and FLV used individually, as shown by values of IC50 equal to 30.23 µg/mL and 47.68 µg/mL, respectively. In vivo imaging of colon targeted beads, carried out by employing real-time X-ray radiography, confirmed the efficiency of colon targeted beads. Overall our results indicate that the optimized FLV-SV nanoconjugate loaded alginate coated ES100 beads could represent a promising approach for colon cancer with efficient colon targeting ability.