Semi-Synthetic Polymers from Metroxylon Sagu biomass as Pharmaceutical Excipient in Making Vegetarian Capsules and Enhancing Dissolution of Poorly Water Soluble Drug

As an approach to implement environmental friendly industries, the conversion of plant waste into useful products has been one of the most important innovations in the recent years. In Sarawak, Malaysia, sago waste has received considerable interest as a source of chemical feedstock due to their high abundance, renewability, biodegradation and low cost of production. In this study, sago palm waste is being used to produce carboxymethyl sago cellulose (CMSC) which could be useful in developing vegetarian capsules and to enhance dissolution of poorly water soluble drugs

Dual Cross-Linked Carboxymethyl Sago Pulp-Gelatine Complex Coacervates for Sustained Drug Delivery

In the present work, we report for the first time the complex coacervation of carboxymethyl sago pulp (CMSP) with gelatine for sustained drug delivery. Toluene saturated with glutaraldehyde and aqueous aluminum chloride was employed as cross-linkers. Measurements of zeta potential confirm neutralization of two oppositely charged colloids due to complexation, which was further supported by infrared spectroscopy. The coacervates encapsulated a model drug ibuprofen and formed microcapsules with a loading of 29%–56% w/w and an entrapment efficiency of 85%–93% w/w. Fresh coacervates loaded with drug had an average diameter of 10.8 ± 1.93 µm (n = 3 ± s.d.). The coacervates could encapsulate only the micronized form of ibuprofen in the absence of surfactant. Analysis through an optical microscope evidenced the encapsulation of the drug in wet spherical coacervates. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the non-spherical geometry and surface roughness of dried drug-loaded microcapsules. X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and thermal analysis confirmed intact and crystalline ibuprofen in the coacervates. Gas chromatography indicated the absence of residual glutaraldehyde in the microcapsules. Dual cross-linked microcapsules exhibited a slower release than mono-cross-linked microcapsules and could sustain the drug release over the period of 6 h following Fickian diffusion

Carboxymethyl-sagocellulose-stabilized Fe3O4 nanoparticles with 5-fluorouracil as photothermal agents for tumor ablation

Abstract Background There is a continuous growth of interest in the development of nano-drug delivery systems that could combine therapy and diagnosis of cancer. Results Novel multifunctional superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs, chemically Fe3O4) conjugated with carboxymethyl sagocellulose (CMSC), and 5-fluorouracil (Fe3O4-CMSC-5FU) were synthesized. The conjugated nanoparticles have the magnetic properties of the SPIONs, which allows the nanoparticles to be localized at the target area by applying an external magnetic field. SPIONs generate heat upon exposure to laser lights, resulting in a photothermic effect. The drug-loading efficiency of 5-FU into the SPIONs-CMSC conjugated nanoparticles was 70 to 84% w/w which could release the drug at intracellular pH (5.4) of cancer cells and resist drug release at pH 7.2. In vivo studies using mice models confirmed the nanoparticles could efficiently deliver 5-FU only to the cancer cells and the anticancer effect was enhanced by laser-induced hyperthermia. Conclusions The combination of targeted delivery of 5-FU with photothermal therapy (PTT) looks promising for selective killing of cancer cells. Furthermore, SPIONs are an excellent contrasting agent for use in computerized tomography (CT) imaging for determining the tumor location and monitoring the progress of the therapy. The focus of this work was the oncological application of multifunctional Fe3O4-CMSC-5FU nanoparticle conjugates, with an emphasis on therapeutic, diagnostic and prognostic purposes

Optimizing extraction of cellulose and synthesizing pharmaceutical grade carboxymethyl sago cellulose from Malaysian sago pulp

Sago biomass is an agro-industrial waste produced in large quantities, mainly in the Asia-Pacific region and in particular South-East Asia. This work focuses on using sago biomass to obtain cellulose as the raw material, through chemical processing using acid hydrolysis, alkaline extraction, chlorination and bleaching, finally converting the material to pharmaceutical grade carboxymethyl sago cellulose (CMSC) by carboxymethylation. The cellulose was evaluated using Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Field Emission Scanning Electronic Microscopy (FESEM). The extracted cellulose was analyzed for cellulose composition, and subsequently modified to CMSC with a degree of substitution (DS) 0.6 by typical carboxymethylation reactions. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the crystallinity of the sago cellulose was reduced after carboxymethylation. FTIR and NMR studies indicate that the hydroxyl groups of the cellulose fibers were etherified through carboxymethylation to produce CMSC. Further characterization of the cellulose and CMSC were performed using FESEM and DSC. The purity of CMSC was analyzed according to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International standards. In this case, acid and alkaline treatments coupled with high-pressure defibrillation were found to be effective in depolymerization and defibrillation of the cellulose fibers. The synthesized CMSC also shows no toxicity in the cell line studies and could be exploited as a pharmaceutical excipient.</p

Additional file 1 of Carboxymethyl-sagocellulose-stabilized Fe3O4 nanoparticles with 5-fluorouracil as photothermal agents for tumor ablation

Additional file 1: Figure S1. X-ray diffraction pattern of Fe3O4-NH2, Fe3O4-CMSC, Fe3O4-5FU, Fe3O4-CMSC-5FU (F1, F3) nanoparticles