Intercalation of 5-fluorouracil into ZnAl hydrotalcite-like nanoparticles: Preparation, characterization and drug release

The nanostructured hydrotalcite-like compound ZnAl-HTlc has been loaded with widely used anticancer drug, 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU). The prepared nano-hybrid 5-FU/ZnAl-HTlc was characterized by XRPD analysis which confirmed the intercalation of 5-FU into the interlayer space of nanoclay. Drug release was investigated to observe the effects of various parameters such as pH and composition of media on the release profiles. The results were fitted by mathematical models describing various kinetics in order to investigate the drug release mechanism. The in vitro cytotoxicity of 5-FU/ZnAl-HTlc nanoparticles was evaluated on Hela, MDA-MB-231 and MCF7 cell lines. The pharmacological activity of 5-FU was enhanced when the drug is loaded onto ZnAl-HTlc nanoparticles and the effect is more pronounced toward tumor cells that are less sensitive to free 5-FU.