Evaluation of Metformin Loaded Polymeric Double Emulsion Nanoparticles as a Novel Repurposing Approach for Colon Cancer Therapy

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most common cancer worldwide and the third leading cause of death in 2022 as depicted by the World Health Organization. It is estimated that by 2040, 2.9 million people will be affected by this pathology. Although several synthetic chemotherapeutic agents have b...

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التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
المؤلف الرئيسي: Bazzi, Siham (author)
التنسيق: masterThesis
منشور في: 2025
الوصول للمادة أونلاين:http://hdl.handle.net/10725/17091
https://doi.org/10.26756/th.2023.816
http://libraries.lau.edu.lb/research/laur/terms-of-use/thesis.php
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author Bazzi, Siham
author_facet Bazzi, Siham
author_role author
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Bazzi, Siham
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025-07-10T07:35:09Z
2025-07-10T07:35:09Z
2025
2025-05-12
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10725/17091
https://doi.org/10.26756/th.2023.816
http://libraries.lau.edu.lb/research/laur/terms-of-use/thesis.php
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv en
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Lebanese American University
dc.rights.*.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Evaluation of Metformin Loaded Polymeric Double Emulsion Nanoparticles as a Novel Repurposing Approach for Colon Cancer Therapy
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Thesis
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis
description Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most common cancer worldwide and the third leading cause of death in 2022 as depicted by the World Health Organization. It is estimated that by 2040, 2.9 million people will be affected by this pathology. Although several synthetic chemotherapeutic agents have been used to treat CRC, they do not specifically target malignant cells, which leads to severe side effects and substantial damage to healthy cells. While targeted therapies have emerged as more efficacious alternatives due to their selective action against cancer cells, their prohibitive cost remains a major limitation. Consequently, many alternative safer and cheaper therapies have been extensively studied against CRC mainly based on repurposing and nanoformulating drugs. Metformin, for example, is one of the most prescribed oral glucose-lowering drug (GLD) for type-2- diabetes mellitus and has been investigated owing to its therapeutic and pharmacological potential. Due to its multitargeting capabilities, metformin interferes with many tumorigenic pathways and inhibits carcinogenesis, malignant development, invasion, migration, and angiogenesis. Despite its promising therapeutic activity, metformin has not yet reached clinical trials as an anti-cancer drug, restricted by its short half-life, limited absorption, and low bioavailability. In an effort to address these issues, nanoparticulate systems, like polymeric nanocarriers, have improved metformin's bioavailability, controlled release, and capacity to bypass various biological barriers. Thus, the current study aims to design a polymeric double emulsion to ameliorate metformin anticancer effects. The double emulsion was prepared using the solvent evaporation technique and characterized according to its particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), and surface charge. The results showed a nanometric size of metformin-loaded nanoparticles 130.93 ± 8.91 nm, unimodal particle size distribution 0.10 ± 0.03, and a positive charge of value +1.19 ± 0.58 mV. Moreover, metformin was successfully encapsulated within polymeric nanoparticles as it demonstrated an in-vitro significantly enhanced dissolution behavior. Furthermore, the cytotoxic behavior provided evidence that the anticancer effect of the loaded NPs on HT29 cells showed favorable effects at highest concentration being 5 mM after 72 hr in comparison to free metformin. Therefore, PNPs proved to be prospective nanocarriers that could be used for the delivery of repurposed drugs like metformin in CRC therapy.
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spelling Evaluation of Metformin Loaded Polymeric Double Emulsion Nanoparticles as a Novel Repurposing Approach for Colon Cancer TherapyBazzi, SihamColorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most common cancer worldwide and the third leading cause of death in 2022 as depicted by the World Health Organization. It is estimated that by 2040, 2.9 million people will be affected by this pathology. Although several synthetic chemotherapeutic agents have been used to treat CRC, they do not specifically target malignant cells, which leads to severe side effects and substantial damage to healthy cells. While targeted therapies have emerged as more efficacious alternatives due to their selective action against cancer cells, their prohibitive cost remains a major limitation. Consequently, many alternative safer and cheaper therapies have been extensively studied against CRC mainly based on repurposing and nanoformulating drugs. Metformin, for example, is one of the most prescribed oral glucose-lowering drug (GLD) for type-2- diabetes mellitus and has been investigated owing to its therapeutic and pharmacological potential. Due to its multitargeting capabilities, metformin interferes with many tumorigenic pathways and inhibits carcinogenesis, malignant development, invasion, migration, and angiogenesis. Despite its promising therapeutic activity, metformin has not yet reached clinical trials as an anti-cancer drug, restricted by its short half-life, limited absorption, and low bioavailability. In an effort to address these issues, nanoparticulate systems, like polymeric nanocarriers, have improved metformin's bioavailability, controlled release, and capacity to bypass various biological barriers. Thus, the current study aims to design a polymeric double emulsion to ameliorate metformin anticancer effects. The double emulsion was prepared using the solvent evaporation technique and characterized according to its particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), and surface charge. The results showed a nanometric size of metformin-loaded nanoparticles 130.93 ± 8.91 nm, unimodal particle size distribution 0.10 ± 0.03, and a positive charge of value +1.19 ± 0.58 mV. Moreover, metformin was successfully encapsulated within polymeric nanoparticles as it demonstrated an in-vitro significantly enhanced dissolution behavior. Furthermore, the cytotoxic behavior provided evidence that the anticancer effect of the loaded NPs on HT29 cells showed favorable effects at highest concentration being 5 mM after 72 hr in comparison to free metformin. Therefore, PNPs proved to be prospective nanocarriers that could be used for the delivery of repurposed drugs like metformin in CRC therapy.Lebanese American University2025-07-10T07:35:09Z2025-07-10T07:35:09Z20252025-05-12Thesisinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesishttp://hdl.handle.net/10725/17091https://doi.org/10.26756/th.2023.816http://libraries.lau.edu.lb/research/laur/terms-of-use/thesis.phpeninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:laur.lau.edu.lb:10725/170912025-07-10T07:36:07Z
spellingShingle Evaluation of Metformin Loaded Polymeric Double Emulsion Nanoparticles as a Novel Repurposing Approach for Colon Cancer Therapy
Bazzi, Siham
status_str publishedVersion
title Evaluation of Metformin Loaded Polymeric Double Emulsion Nanoparticles as a Novel Repurposing Approach for Colon Cancer Therapy
title_full Evaluation of Metformin Loaded Polymeric Double Emulsion Nanoparticles as a Novel Repurposing Approach for Colon Cancer Therapy
title_fullStr Evaluation of Metformin Loaded Polymeric Double Emulsion Nanoparticles as a Novel Repurposing Approach for Colon Cancer Therapy
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of Metformin Loaded Polymeric Double Emulsion Nanoparticles as a Novel Repurposing Approach for Colon Cancer Therapy
title_short Evaluation of Metformin Loaded Polymeric Double Emulsion Nanoparticles as a Novel Repurposing Approach for Colon Cancer Therapy
title_sort Evaluation of Metformin Loaded Polymeric Double Emulsion Nanoparticles as a Novel Repurposing Approach for Colon Cancer Therapy
url http://hdl.handle.net/10725/17091
https://doi.org/10.26756/th.2023.816
http://libraries.lau.edu.lb/research/laur/terms-of-use/thesis.php