In vitro cytotoxicity study of dual drug loaded chitosan/palladium nanocomposite towards HT-29 cancer cells.

Conjugated drug delivery has gained immense interest due to the possibility of overcoming the resistance of cancer cells to a specific drug when treated using it for a period of time. In the present study, CS/Pd nanocomposite has been prepared using cost effective chemical reduction method and has been used for the delivery of curcumin (CUR) and 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) separately and in a conjugated form. The prepared nanocomposite before and after drug encapsulation have been studied using various characterization techniques. The release of drugs from the nanocomposite with respect to time has been analyzed and the release kinetics has also been studied. The release profile is mostly seen to adhere to zero order kinetics which represents the constant release of drugs from drug delivery system. This is the most favored release kinetic as this leads to the prolonged release of the drug, thus leading to a reduction in the number of doses administered. The cytotoxicity of the drug loaded nanocomposites on colon cancer cells has been studied, which shows the effectiveness of the composite system towards successfully inhibiting the growth of cancer cells.