In vivo study: Effectiveness and safety of reverse micelle EGCG as a cervical anticancer treatment

(-)-Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is reported as inducing apoptosis in cervical cancer and recommended for topical delivery by means of reverse micelle (RM). This study aims to determine the in vivo effectiveness and safety of EGCG reverse micelles (EGCG_RM) as an anticancer agent compared with free EGCG in mice induced with Ethinyl Estradiol through intravaginal administration. In this study, the EGCG_RM were prepared by mixing the surfactant Tween 80 and Span 80 at an HLB value of 6 and characterized by physicochemical properties through FTIR, droplet measurements, particle size, polydispersity index, and zeta potential. The entrapment efficiency and drug loading values of EGCG were also determined. The in vivo effectiveness and safety of RM_EGCG were observed based on changes in body weight, organ morphology, and uterine tissue histopathology of the mice subject negative controls compared to the healthy controls post-intravaginal administration. Characteristics of the resulting EGCG-RM included: 100-200 nm in size, which was deemed appropriate for cancer therapy and demonstrated no morphological or histopathological change, as shown by the negative control resulting from Ethinyl Estradiol induction. The fact that they present no irritation can be seen from the healthy control group. EGCG_RM can increase the effectiveness of cervical anticancer activity and does not cause irritation after local administration via the intravaginal route.