ISSN 2326-7275
International Journal of Anatomy and Physiology ISSN: 2326-7275 Vol. 7 (8), pp. 001-009, August, 2018. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Preparation and characterization of crosslinked and non-crosslinked polycaprolactone fumarate (PCLF) NPs as carriers for doxorubicin HCl
Narges Shokri1, Hamid Akbari Javar1,5*, Shamileh Fouladdel2, Ali Khalaj3, Rasoul Dinarvand1,4 and Ebrahim Azizi2
1Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, 16 Azar street, Engelab Sq, P. O. Box 14155-6451, Tehran, Iran.
2Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Molecular research lab, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
3Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
4Medical Nanotechnology Research Centre, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
5Department of Pharmacy, University of Malaya, Malaysia.
Accepted 14 April, 2018
Abstract
Polycaprolactone fumarate (PCLF) is a biocompatible and biodegradable polyester which has been evaluated for tissue engineering. Hydrophobic PCLF nanoparticles (NPs) may be uptaken by reticule endotelial system rich organs and useful for treatment of related tumors. NPs of three PCLFs were produced through nanoprecipitation method. Crosslinked (CR) NPs were prepared using Benzyl peroxide (BPO) and N-vinyl pyrrolidone (NVP) under heating. Doxorubicin HCl (Dox) loaded NPs of PCLF530, 1250 and 2000 showed size of 149, 238 and 274 nm, respectively and zeta potential of about - 40 mV, while their drug loadings (DL%) were 2.1, 6.0 and 6.8%, respectively. Dox was released from the NPs in 2 to 4 days in phosphate buffer saline, pH 7.4 at 37°C. Crosslinking of NPs could be completed at BPO/PCLF of 0.01 and NVP/PCLF of 0.1 at 40°C with no change in NP size. PCLF530 NPs possessed a higher CR% than two other NPs. The CR% was reduced in formulations without NVP and with NVP/PCLF of 0.8. Electron microscopic images revealed spherical (CR and not CR) NPs and core-shell structure. PCLF1250 NPs showed both more DL% and smaller size in relation to NPs of PCLF530 and 2000, respectively with a prolonged drug release profile and can be useful as a passive targeted drug delivery system. PCLF NPs could be CR (64.3%) through chemical crosslinking and consequently higher DL% (11.6%), longer drug release (6 days) and smaller size (188 nm) than not CR NPs.
Key words: Crosslinked PCLF NPs, doxorubicin HCl, nanoparticles.