Physiological uptake and retention of radiolabeled resveratrol loaded gold nanoparticles (99mTc-Res-AuNP) in colon cancer tissue

When tagged with a suitable radionuclide, the cancer targeting properties of trans-resveratrol could be utilized to locate cancerous sites in the body using radionuclide imaging technique. However, the polyphenol due to its rapid and extensive metabolism exhibits low bioavailability in vivo. The study was designed to enhance the cancer targeting efficacy of radiolabeled resveratrol using nano-based technology. Technetium-99m labeled resveratrol loaded gold nanoparticles (Res-AuNP) were synthesized, characterized and evaluated for their cancer targeting efficacy in HT29 colon cancer cells and in animal cancer model. Results of various investigations were compared to corresponding results obtained for ^99mTc-AuNP and ^99mTc-resveratrol. Cancer cell internalization observed for ^99mTc-Res-AuNP was significantly higher than that of ^99mTc-AuNP and ^99mTc-resveratrol. Also, a gradual rise in target to nontarget uptake with time was observed following i.v. administration of ^99mTc-Res-AuNP to colon tumor bearing rats, demonstrating better in vivo targeting of colon adenocarcinoma with ^99mTc-Res-AuNP when compared to ^99mTc-resveratrol.