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Najm A, Niculescu AG, Bolocan A, Rădulescu M, Grumezescu AM, Beuran M, Gaspar BS. Chitosan and Cyclodextrins-Versatile Materials Used to Create Drug Delivery Systems for Gastrointestinal Cancers. Pharmaceutics 2023; 16:43. [PMID: 38258054 PMCID: PMC10819812 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics16010043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2023] [Revised: 12/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Gastrointestinal cancers are characterized by a frequent incidence, a high number of associated deaths, and a tremendous burden on the medical system and patients worldwide. As conventional chemotherapeutic drugs face numerous limitations, researchers started to investigate better alternatives for extending drug efficacy and limiting adverse effects. A remarkably increasing interest has been addressed to chitosan and cyclodextrins, two highly versatile natural carbohydrate materials endowed with unique physicochemical properties. In this respect, numerous studies reported on fabricating various chitosan and cyclodextrin-based formulations that enabled prolonged circulation times, improved cellular internalization of carried drugs, preferential uptake by the targeted cells, reduced side effects, enhanced apoptosis rates, and increased tumor suppression rates. Therefore, this paper aims to briefly present the advantageous properties of these oligo- and polysaccharides for designing drug delivery systems, further focusing the discussion on nanocarrier systems based on chitosan/cyclodextrins for treating different gastrointestinal cancers. Specifically, there are reviewed studies describing promising solutions for colorectal, liver, gastric, pancreatic, and other types of cancers of the digestive system towards creating an updated framework of what concerns anticancer chitosan/cyclodextrin-based drug delivery systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfred Najm
- Department of Surgery, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Eroii Sanitari, Sector 5, 050474 Bucharest, Romania; (A.N.); (M.B.); (B.S.G.)
- Emergency Hospital Floreasca Bucharest, 8 Calea Floresca, Sector 1, 014461 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Adelina-Gabriela Niculescu
- Research Institute of the University of Bucharest—ICUB, University of Bucharest, 050657 Bucharest, Romania; (A.-G.N.); (A.M.G.)
- Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Politehnica University of Bucharest, 011061 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Alexandra Bolocan
- General Surgery Department, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, The University Emergency Hospital of Bucharest, 050098 Bucharest, Romania;
| | - Marius Rădulescu
- Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Politehnica University of Bucharest, 011061 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu
- Research Institute of the University of Bucharest—ICUB, University of Bucharest, 050657 Bucharest, Romania; (A.-G.N.); (A.M.G.)
- Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Politehnica University of Bucharest, 011061 Bucharest, Romania
- Academy of Romanian Scientists, Ilfov No. 3, 050044 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Mircea Beuran
- Department of Surgery, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Eroii Sanitari, Sector 5, 050474 Bucharest, Romania; (A.N.); (M.B.); (B.S.G.)
- Emergency Hospital Floreasca Bucharest, 8 Calea Floresca, Sector 1, 014461 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Bogdan Severus Gaspar
- Department of Surgery, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Eroii Sanitari, Sector 5, 050474 Bucharest, Romania; (A.N.); (M.B.); (B.S.G.)
- Emergency Hospital Floreasca Bucharest, 8 Calea Floresca, Sector 1, 014461 Bucharest, Romania
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