Pharmacodynamics study of zedoary turmeric oil chitosan microspheres administered via arterial embolization

Zedoary turmeric oil, a plant extract currently in clinical use, may provide potent pharmacological actions such as liver injury. In the previous study, to improve the in vivo absorption of ZTO and produce a high oral bioavailability, chitosan was employed to prepare sustained-release microspheres containing ZTO. In this study, a portability liver cancer model of rats was established successfully to compare the pharmacodynamic of ZTO microspheres and injection. In vitro results showed that microspheres had almost uniformly spherical shapes and were well dispersed by a relatively dynamic stable system. In vivo, compared with the control group, all ZTO microspheres groups resulted in growing inhibition of walker-256 cells transplanted solid tumor and the obvious controlled tumor size. At the same dose, ZTO microspheres suggested a better effect. The data showed that three doses of ZTO microspheres could prolong the average survival time considerably. None of the severe signs such as the pimelosis, fibrotic changes and fibrous septum were detected in the histopathology study.