The first nano-cocrystal formulation of marine drug cytarabine with uracil based on cocrystal nanonization strategy for long-acting injection exhibiting enhanced antitumor activity.

To emphasize the superiority of uracil (UR) in ameliorating biopharmaceutical characteristics of marine antitumor medicine cytarabine (ARA), thus gaining some innovative opinions for the exploitation of nanococrystal formulation, a cocrystal nanonization strategy is proposed by integrating cocrystallization and nanosize preparation techniques. For one thing, based on UR's unique structural features and natures together with advantages of preferential uptake by tumor cells, cocrystallizing ARA with UR is expected to improve the in vitro/vivo performances. For another, the nanonization procedure is oriented towards maintaining the long-term effective drug level. Along this route, a cocrystal of ARA with UR, viz., ARA-UR, is successfully synthesized and then transformed into nano-cocrystal. The cocrystal structure is precisely confirmed by various methods, demonstrating that a 1:1 ARA and UR in the crystal forms cytosine-UR hydrogen-bonding interactions, thus constructing supramolecular frameworks by strong π-π stacking interplays; while the nano-cocrystal is block-shaped particles of 562.70 nm with zeta potential -33.40 mV. The properties of cocrystal ARA-UR and its nano-cocrystal in vitro/vivo are comparatively explored by theoretical calculations and experimental analyses, revealing that permeability of both is significantly increased than ARA per se. Notably, the meliorative natures of both the cocrystal and nano-cocrystal in vitro bring excellent antitumor activity, but the latter has greater strengths over the former. More notably, the nano-cocrystal can sustain effective concentration for a relatively longer time, causing lengthened retention time and better absorption in vivo. The contribution offers a fire-new dosage form of ARA for long-lasting delivery, thus filling the vacancy in nanococrystal studies about marine drugs.

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Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.