Acyclovir (ACV) is a promising candidate for
drug repurposing because of its potential to provide an effective treatment for
viral infections and non-
viral diseases, such as
cancer, for which limited treatment options exist. However, its poor physicochemical properties limit its application. This study aimed to formulate and evaluate an ACV-loaded red
clay nanodrug delivery system exhibiting an effective cytotoxicity. The study focused on the preparation of a complex between ACV and red
clay (RC) using
sucrose stearate (SS) (nanocomplex F1) as an immediate-release drug-delivery system for
melanoma treatment. The synthesized nanocomplex, which had nanosized dimensions, a negative zeta potential and the drug release of approximately 85% after 3 h, was found to be promising. Characterization techniques, including FT-IR, XRD and DSC-TGA, confirmed the effective encapsulation of ACV within the nanocomplex and its stability due to intercalation. Cytotoxicity experiments conducted on
melanoma cancer cell lines SK-MEL-3 revealed that the ACV release from the nanocomplex formulation F1 effectively inhibited the growth of
melanoma cancer cells, with an IC50 of 25 ± 0.09 µg/mL. Additionally, ACV demonstrated a significant cytotoxicity at approximately 20 µg/mL in the
melanoma cancer cell line, indicating its potential repurposing for
skin cancer treatment. Based on these findings, it can be suggested that the RC-SS complex could be an effective
drug delivery carrier for localized
cancer therapy. Furthermore, the results of an in silico study suggested the addition of
chitosan to the formulation for a more effective
drug delivery. Energy and interaction analyses using various modules in a material studio demonstrated the high stability of the composite comprising red
clay,
sucrose stearate,
chitosan and ACV. Thus, it could be concluded that the utilization of the red
clay-based drug delivery system is a promising strategy to improve the effectiveness of targeted
cancer therapy.