Antitumoral melatonin-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers.

Cancer constitutes the second leading cause of death worldwide, with conventional therapies limited by significant side effects. Melatonin (MEL), a natural compound with antitumoral properties, suffers from instability and low solubility. To overcome these issues, MEL was encapsulated into nanostructured lipid carriers (MEL-NLC) containing rosehip oil to enhance stability and boost its antitumoral activity. MEL-NLC were optimized by a design of experiments approach and characterized for their physicochemical properties. Stability and biopharmaceutical behavior were assessed, along with interaction studies and antitumoral efficacy against various cancer cell lines. Optimized MEL-NLC exhibited desirable physicochemical characteristics, including small particle size and sustained MEL release, along with long-term stability. studies demonstrated that MEL-NLC selectively induced cytotoxicity in several cancer cell lines while sparing healthy cells. MEL-NLC represent a promising alternative for cancer, combining enhanced stability and targeted antitumoral activity, potentially overcoming the limitations of conventional treatments.