Synthesis of pH-sensitive nanocarrier-based acrylic acid-grafted-flaxseed gum for quercetin delivery for anti-cancer application

This study deals with the fabrication and characterization of quercetin-loaded acrylic acid-grafted-flaxseed gum nanoparticles (QUR@AA-g-FGS) to delivers quercetin to the targeted colonic area and to enhances anti-cancer activity. The acrylic acid-grafted-flaxseed gum (AA-g-FGS) was synthesized using ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) as a redox initiator via the conventional method. The synthesized acrylic acid-grafted-flaxseed (AA-g-FGS) gum was also optimized through varying grafting parameters such as acrylic acid and CAN concentration, time and temperature to obtain the maximum yield of acrylic acid-grafted-flaxseed gum. The quercetin release behavior of QUR@AA-g-FGS was studied at several biological pH and the highest drug release (95%) was observed at pH 7.4 and 8 h. The quercetin release kinetic data was following the first order (R² = 0.9842) kinetic model. The cytotoxicity of QUR@AA-g-FGS was investigated on HCT-15 cell line (cancerous human cell line) and, QUR@AA-g-FGS demonstrated outstanding toxicity toward HCT-15 cell line. Thus, the present study procures a worthwhile, nominal and ecologically sound approach toward the synthesis of QUR@AA-g-FGS for colon targeted drug delivery system.