Exploring the effect of quercetin flavonoid encapsulated in chitosan nanoparticles on cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and growth of human cancer cell line

Cancer is one of the most important causes of death in today's societies. Intolerable side effects and resistance to chemotherapy drugs have encouraged scientists to invent new drug compounds with less side effects. This study aimed to evaluate the synergistic effects of quercetin encapsulated in chitosan nanoparticles on cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and cell growth of K562 cell line. The flavonoid quercetin was encapsulated in chitosan nanoparticles and their physical characteristics were determined using standard methods, FTIR and SEM microscope images. K562 cells were cultured in cell culture medium, the cytotoxicity of drugs was evaluated by MTT method and the effects of nanodrugs on apoptosis in them were evaluated by flow cytometry. IC50 during 24- and 48-hours exposure of cells with nanoquercetin drug was determined as 16.71 and 10.36 μg/ml. Quercetin nanomedicine had a positive zeta potential. The data showed that the form of quercetin nanomedicine encapsulated with chitosan compared to the pure form of quercetin had a statistically significant effect on cancer cells (p<0.05). The results of the present study show that the encapsulated form of quercetin nanomedicine with chitosan has more cytotoxicity than the pure form of drugs. On the other hand, the results showed that quercetin in the form of a nano-drug complex had a significant effect in inducing apoptosis in human chronic myeloid leukemia cells. Therefore, this nanomedicine can be further investigated in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia.