Designing and Characterizing Nano-carriers Containing Nepeta Persica Extract and Their Effect on Bone Cancer

 Niosomes have been considered as carriers for targeted delivery of drugs in modern drug delivery systems. The Iranian Nepta (Nepta genus) has unique biological properties; thus, this plant was used in this study to prepare the optimized formulation of niosomes containing extract, and to evaluate its cytotoxicity.

Initially, the extract of Iranian Nepta (N. persica) was prepared. Then, the nano-niosomal system, containing the extract was designed and synthesized using cholesterol and Span-60. The physicochemical properties of the system were evaluated by FTIR and SEM. MTT assay [3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] was used to determine the toxicity of the Nepta extract and nano-system containing it against bone cancer cells (MG63).

An optimized formulation was obtained using cholesterol and Span-60 with a ratio of 80:20. The amount of extract release from this formulation continued with a steady slope over a long period of time. The survival rate of MG63 cells against 100 μg/mL of the free form of N. persica extract and its niosomal form were 22% and 8.88%, respectively.

 The present research results suggested that N. persica extract exert anti-cancer effects and niosome could improve its anti-cancer efficiency. Therefore, it could be used as a proper carrier to deliver the extract to the target tissue.