Development and cytotoxicity evaluation of multiple nanoemulsions for oral co-delivery of 5-fluorouracil and short chain triglycerides for colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the world, but current chemotherapy options are limited due to adverse effects and low oral bioavailability of drugs. In this study, we investigated the obtainment parameters and composition of new multiple nanoemulsions (MN) based on microemulsions for oral co-delivery of 5-fluorouracil (5FU) and short-chain triglycerides (SCT, either tributyrin or tripropionin). The area of microemulsion formation was increased from 14% to 38% when monocaprylin was mixed with tricaprylin as oil phase. Addition of SCT reduced this value to 24-26%. Using sodium alginate aqueous dispersion as internal aqueous phase (to avoid phase inversion) did not further affected the area but increased microemulsion viscosity by 1.5-fold. To obtain the MN, selected microemulsions were diluted in an external aqueous phase; droplet size was 500 nm and stability improved using polyoxyethylene (den Besten et al., 2013) oleyl ether at 1-2.5% as surfactant in the external phase and a dilution ratio of 1:1 (v/v). 5FU in vitro release could be better described by the Korsmeyer-Peppas model. No pronounced changes in droplet size were observed when selected MNs were incubated in buffers mimicking gastrointestinal fluids. The 5FU cytotoxicity in monolayer cell lines presenting various mutations was influenced by its incorporation in the nanocarrier, presence of SCT and cell mutation status. The MNs selected reduced the viability of tumor spheroids (employed as 3D tumor models) by 2.2-fold compared to 5FU solution and did not affect the survival of the G. mellonella, suggesting effectiveness and safety.