Ali G. Sawadi, Athraa Fouad Khudhair, Sanaryh Mohammed Al-awad, H.N.K. Al-Salman, Falah Hassan Shari

 Organic nanostructures, analysis, preparation, evaluation, and their in vitro and in vivo applications

2026-08-13

The pharmaceutical compounds that are present in small doses in the body are referred to as nanostructured drug compounds. Creating tiny particles that can be used for the delivery of drugs and are of biological origin remains a key challenge in nanotechnology. The aim of this study was to prepare new polymeric nanostructures from Iraq’s local materials and characterize them as well as assess the efficacy of these structures in vitro and in vivo. The extracted chitosan from local shrimp shells in Iraq using an ionic gelation technique.  Analytical methods performed on the products include Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The authors used an MTT assay to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of compounds on HepG2 cell lines. The in vivo study was carried out on Wistar rats (n = 48) from the Baghdad University animal facility after getting approval from the IACUC committee (IACUC-2023-045). The mean diameter of the synthesized nanoparticles was found to be 187.3 ± 12.4 nm. The polydispersity index was found to be 0.278 ± 0.031. Efficient encapsulation occurred at 78.6% ± 4.2% for doxorubicin. The studies of cell viability showed cytotoxicity, which is dose-dependent, and the IC50 value was 43.2 ± 3.8 μg/mL. In-vivo pharmacokinetic studies show that bioavailability (AUC0-∞) of drug formulation was significantly improved (2.47-fold, p < 0.001). The nanostructures authors made had better pharmaceutical properties and stronger therapeutic potential. Using local materials for pharmaceutical nanotechnology applications in Iraq is a green solution that shows promising potential for clinical translation and commercialization.

Keywords: nanostructures, chitosan-alginate, drug delivery, biocompatibility, Iraqi materials, pharmacokinetics.

© Farm Pol, 2026, 82(2): 109–116