modified carbon nanohorn for cancer therapy

Aim and background: cisplatin (cddp) application as a widely used chemotherapeutic is associated with severe dose-related adverse effects including nephrotoxicity, and hematological toxicities. though nanotechnology using advanced vehicles greatly improved carrier accumulation within the tumor, anti-tumor efficacy of cisplatin nanostructures is still limited due to insufficient availability. herein, carbon nanohorns (cnh) platforms with surface modification were developed for cisplatin tumor delivery. methods: two different carbon nanohorn formulations with physical and chemical modification including peg-cnh and cnh-ga were fabricated to improve surface features and drug loading. complete particle characterization was performed and 24, 48 and 72 h in vitro cytotoxicity studies, in vivo assessment, biodistribution and histological analysis were investigated and compared to free drug using c26 tumor engrafted balb/c mice. results and discussion: the diameters of peg-cnh and cnh-ga were 250 and 312 nm with pdi of 0.24 and 0.22 and cisplatin concentration of 1.3 and 0.96 mg/ml, respectively. the modified platforms showed significant toxicity on c26 cells. following cnh platforms i.v administration, cisplatin plasma concentration was significantly increased compared to free cisplatin. animal received peg-modified platform showed the longest survival and greatly reduced tumor size and drug accumulation within kidneys. conclusion: modified cnh platforms with proper particulate features improved cisplatin loading and led to an increase in balb/c mice survival time and a decrease in the tumor size