Abstract

Background: Gallbladder cancer is a highly lethal pathology, mainly due to late diagnosis and poor therapeutic alternatives. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) has been reported as a cancer chemoprophylaxis, but its low stability and bioavailability limit its utility. The purpose of this study was to define the optimal process conditions by nano spray drying for EGCG microencapsulation using gum arabic and maltodextrin as a wall material and to test its chemopreventive action efficiency on gallbladder cancer cell lines (GB-d1). Methods: For microcapsule production using a Büchi nanospray dryer, an experimental Taguchi design was applied using a L4 (23 ) matrix. The effects of cytotoxicity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production on GB-d1 cells in the presence of microencapsulated EGCG were assessed. Results: A high EGCG loading efficiency (≥99%) obtained under optimal process conditions was the result. Microencapsulated EGCG triggered a considerable increase in cellular cytotoxicity compared with free EGCG; however, no statistically significant differences were found in ROS levels of microencapsulated and free EGCG (p≥0.05). Conclusion: Based on these results, the