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Acyclovir (ACV) is a promising candidate for drug repurposing because of its potential to provide an effective treatment for viral infections and non-viral diseases, such as cancer, for which limited treatment options exist. However, its poor physicochemical properties limit its application. This study aimed to formulate and evaluate an ACV-loaded red clay nanodrug delivery system exhibiting an effective cytotoxicity. The study focused on the preparation of a complex between ACV and red clay (RC) using sucrose stearate (SS) (nanocomplex F1) as an immediate-release drug-delivery system for melanoma treatment. The synthesized nanocomplex, which had nanosized dimensions, a negative zeta potential and the drug release of approximately 85% after 3 h, was found to be promising. Characterization techniques, including FT-IR, XRD and DSC-TGA, confirmed the effective encapsulation of ACV within the nanocomplex and its stability due to intercalation. Cytotoxicity experiments conducted on melanoma cancer cell lines SK-MEL-3 revealed that the ACV release from the nanocomplex formulation F1 effectively inhibited the growth of melanoma cancer cells, with an IC50 of 25 ± 0.09 µg/mL. Additionally, ACV demonstrated a significant cytotoxicity at approximately 20 µg/mL in the melanoma cancer cell line, indicating its potential repurposing for skin cancer treatment. Based on these findings, it can be suggested that the RC-SS complex could be an effective drug delivery carrier for localized cancer therapy. Furthermore, the results of an in silico study suggested the addition of chitosan to the formulation for a more effective drug delivery. Energy and interaction analyses using various modules in a material studio demonstrated the high stability of the composite comprising red clay, sucrose stearate, chitosan and ACV. Thus, it could be concluded that the utilization of the red clay-based drug delivery system is a promising strategy to improve the effectiveness of targeted cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel eco-friendly methods for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles are preferred and have recently been widely researched. In this study, a cost-effective and environmentally friendly method for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles was investigated. Costus pictus, also known as insulin plant due to its antidiabetic activity, was used as the reducing agent. Chloroaurate ions were rapidly reduced by the methanolic extract of Costus pictus, which was indicated by the color change from yellow to ruby red. The presence of a peak at 530 nm in UV-visible spectrophotometry confirmed the reduction of chloroaurate to gold nanoparticles. The reaction kinetics and effects of time, temperature, concentration of extract and substrate were also studied. The size and morphology of gold nanoparticles were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and they were found to be cuboidal, with a size of around 20 nm. The size of the particles was also analyzed by the particle size analyzer, and was found to be 45 nm. These particles were functionalized with bisdemethoxycurcumin analog (BDMCA). X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of prepared nanoparticles showed that the gold nanoparticles have a face centered cubic structure and that of functionalized nanoparticles showed peaks similar to that of BDMCA. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) studies revealed the presence of reducing groups in the plant methanolic extract and the functionalization of nanoparticles with BDMCA was also confirmed. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay showed that, the BDMCA-functionalized gold nanocubes possess anticancer activity. The mechanism of action is discussed.