# Synthesis of Star Nanoparticles and Their Applications for Bioactive Compound Encapsulation
## 4 Applications
### Medical Applications  
One of the main medical applications in which SNPs could be used is cancer therapy. In a recent study, [PERSON] et al. demonstrated the advantages offered by the encapsulation of antitumor agents in polymeric nanoparticles for improving the solubility of the drug while protecting against rapid systemic metabolism to increase the time of exposure and reducing the toxicity. To measure the effectiveness of the encapsulated drug, the authors conducted tests with MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The data demonstrated that the encapsulation of CG-1521 in the SNPs improved the therapeutic efficacy against MCF-7 cells and suggested that this encapsulation technology may be useful for other hormone-dependent cancers [31]. [PERSON] et al. also performed in vitro experiments with synthesized and antibiotic-loaded SNPs. They evaluated normal liver cells (AML12) and liver hepatocellular cells (HepG2) using MTT assays where it was revealed that SNPs had excellent biocompatibility for normal cells and hepatocellular cells. However, the free drug showed greater antitumor efficacy than particles charged to HepG2 cells due to direct contact with cancer cells, although loaded SNPs showed to release the drug more slowly. On the other hand, they also demonstrated that the viability of AML12 cells was greater than that of HepG2 cells for the different concentrations of the antibiotics studied [48]. [PERSON] et al. also demonstrated the efficacy of SNPs as drug delivery systems. Experiments were carried out in rats by oral administration of the drug or the drug-loaded SNPs as well as the drug directly on the starch and blood samples were collected for the analysis. The mean values obtained for the residence time of the particles were not significantly different from those of the raw paclitaxel. It was concluded that the preparation method of SNPs had a very significant effect on the bioavailability of paclitaxel and that the improving  
Figure 11: Schematic representation of different fields in which SNPs can be used. effect for SNPs was better than when the drug directly loaded on starch. Therefore, the preparation of SNPs is an effective way to improve the bioavailability of paclitaxel [78]. Recently, [PERSON] et al. evaluated the cellular absorption capacity of SNPs using a human lung cancer cell line A549 using curcumin as a control group. Cytotoxicity tests were carried out using free curcumin, which showed limited efficacy against cancer cells. Compared to free curcumin, the SNPs showed an inhibitory effect on cancer cells and the results indicated that these particles as drug-bearing material were not cytotoxic at the required concentrations and could be a promising drug delivery system for the lung cancer cells, acting as an effective vehicle to target and administer medications to the tumor site [41]. [PERSON] et al. also demonstrated the safety and efficacy of drug-loaded SNPs as an effective but safe anticancer treatment through cellular cytotoxicity assays using Caco-2 cells. The efficacy of the free drug was studied, and both were analyzed at equimolar concentration. The authors performed the tests during the exponential growth phase of the cells in order to provide an unequivocal indication of any type of cellular toxicity. The effect of the drug on cancer cells was, in turn, compared to that of non-cancer cells using the same test conditions. Finally, the possibility and efficacy of propyl starch to encapsulate and control the release of hydrophobic anticancer agents such as docetaxel in nanocarriers were confirmed [30]. In a most general medical field of application, some authors also carried out tests to determine the functioning of SNPs loaded with drugs to verify their functionality as drug delivery vehicles. [PERSON] et al. conducted a histological pathology study on rat skin to confirm whether the formulation was tolerated without symptoms of skin irritation.