Prostate cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in males and it has become a major worldwide public health problem. This study characterizes the encapsulation of Nor-β-lapachone (NβL) in poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microcapsules and evaluates the cytotoxicity of the resulting drug-loaded system against metastatic prostate cancer cells. The microcapsules presented appropriate morphological features and the presence of drug molecules in the microcapsules was confirmed by different methods. Spherical microcapsules with a size range of 1.03 ± 0.46 μm were produced with an encapsulation efficiency of approximately 19%. Classical molecular dynamics calculations provided an estimate of the typical adsorption energies of NβL on PLGA. Finally, the cytotoxic activity of NβL against PC3M human prostate cancer cells was demonstrated to be significantly enhanced when delivered by PLGA microcapsules in comparison with the free drug.
Keywords: PLGA microcapsules; cancer; lapachol; naphthoquinone; nor-β-lapachone; prostate.