Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology

Trigonella foenum-graecum L. contains diosgenin and folic acid, which shows anticancer activity. Cancer chemotherapy treatment is generally toxic to normal cells and can cause numerous side effects. To avoid problems of cancer chemotherapy the attempt has been made preparation of anticancer herbal NE to breast cancer cells.

The present study was to prepare and characterise nanoemulsion (NE) loaded with Trigonella foenum-graecum L. seed oil by using high pressure homogenization.

Solubility of seed oil in various vehicles were conducted. Phase diagrams were constructed to identify NE region using oil, surfactant and co-surfactant in aqueous environment. NE formulations were evaluated for globule size, zeta potential, drug content, optical clarity, viscosity, morphology, and release studies. The anticancer properties of the NE preparation were studied using a MTT cell line method.

The Trigonella foenum-graecum L. seed oil in optimized NE formulation showed mean globule size, zeta potential and drug content were 24.33nm,-29.3 Mv and 98.14% respectively. Infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry indicated compatibility between drug, oil, surfactant and co-surfactant. The results show that NE significantly reduced the cell viability at 1000 μg/ml was recorded as 54.44% in MCF-7 cells, and percentage of cell inhibition 45.56.

Hence NE formulations of Trigonella foenum-graecum L. seed oil owing to nanosize have the potential to enhance their absorption, it indicates preapared NE was stable. The results clearly indicate that NE induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. These findings support the potential application of NE in breast cancer therapy.