• Effects of folic acid-chitosan in targeted drug delivery nanosystem with antitumor application in breast cancer model in Balb/C mice
  • Ahmad Fatahi-Vanai,1 Masoomeh Soltani,2 Pegah Khosravian,3,*
    1. Student Research Committee, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran.
    2. Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran.
    3. Medical Plants Research Center, Institute of Basic Health Sciences, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran.


  • Introduction: Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women with a death rate of almost 50% and its frequency has increased over the past years. Selenium (Se) nanoparticles have antioxidant and anti-pathogenic effects. The use of nanoparticles coated with folic acid-chitosan (FA-Cs) is one of the new targeted treatment methods. Chitosan increases the duration of drug release from designed nanoparticles. Folic acid molecules can also be used at the level of nanoparticles to increase the specificity of drug binding to cancer cells. Therefore, the aim of the study was to use folic acid-chitosan coating in the drug delivery system containing selenium nanoparticles with anti-tumor application in the breast cancer model in Balb/C mice.
  • Methods: Materials and methods: First, selenium nanoparticles were synthesized with compounds such as selenium oxide and ascorbic acid, and then were coated with folic acid-chitosan. The nanoparticles prepared in the study were injected intraperitoneally with 5-day intervals and Breast cancer induced in Balb/C mice. The studied groups include the control group, Curcumin group, SeCsFA group and SeCurCsFA group, with 8 mice in each group. The weight and the size of tumors were measured with scales and calipers. After 25 days, the mice were euthanized and the final tumor weight was checked in different groups.
  • Results: Results: The results of examining selenium nanoparticles using a scanning electron microscope showed that the shape of the particles was spherical and uniformly distributed, and their size was about 200 nm. In the control groups, Curcumin group, SeCsFA group and SeCurCsFA group, tumor size was 9.25, 3.82, 7.87 and 0.63, respectively, and tumor weight was 24.125, 25.87, 21.9 and 22.73.
  • Conclusion: Conclusion: According to the results of using selenium nanoparticles loaded with curcumin coated with folic acid-chitosan by increasing the specificity of the drug connections and increasing the drug release time, it increases the antitumor activity in the breast cancer model in Balb/C mice.
  • Keywords: Keywords: breast cancer, folic acid-chitosan, drug delivery, selenium nanoparticles, Balb/C mice