Nanonization of Magnoflorine-Encapsulated Novel Chitosan–Collagen Nanocapsules for Neurodegenerative Diseases: In Vitro Evaluation

[Image: see text] Neurodegeneration is one of the most common diseases in the aged population, characterized by the loss in the function of neuronal cells and their ultimate death. One of the common features in the progression of this type of diseases is the oxidative stress. Drugs which are currently being used have been found to show lateral side effects, which is partly due to their inefficiency to cross blood–brain barrier. Nanoencapsulation of bioactive compounds is a profound approach in this direction and has become a method of choice nowadays. This study involved the evaluation of the anti-oxidative properties of magnoflorine (MF), which is an aporphine quaternary alkaloid, and synthesis of MF-loaded chitosan–collagen nanocapsules (MF-CCNc) for its better efficacy as a potent anti-oxidant. Physiochemical characterization of the synthesized nanocapsules was done by using dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. It revealed that the synthesized nanocapsules are of small size range, as small as 12 ± 2 nm, and are more or less of spherical shape. Sustained release was shown by MF in the in vitro drug release studies. Both MF and MF-CCNc were found to have good anti-oxidant potential with IC(50) < 25 μg/mL. No major cytotoxicity was shown by the synthesized nanocapsules on SH-SY5Y cells. In silico anti-acetylcholinesterase (AChE) studies were also done, and they revealed that MF can be a potent inhibitor of AChE.