Sorafenib tosylate-loaded nanosuspension: preparation, optimization, and in vitro cytotoxicity study against human HepG2 carcinoma cells

Abstract

This study aimed to optimize nanosuspension of sorafenib tosylate (an anticancer hydrophobic drug molecule) using a central composite design. Nanosuspension was prepared using a nanoprecipitation-ultrasonication approach. FTIR and DSC analyses demonstrated that the drug and excipients were physicochemically compatible. X-ray powder diffraction analysis confirmed amorphous form of the payload in the formulation. The optimized formulation (batch NSS₆) had a zeta potential of −18.1 mV, a polydispersity of 0.302, and a particle size of 97.11 nm. SEM analysis confirmed formation of rod-shaped particles. After 24 h, about 64.45% and 86.37% of the sorafenib tosylate was released in pH 6.8 and pH 1.2, respectively. The MTT assay was performed on HepG2 cell lines. IC₅₀ value of the optimized batch was 39.4 µg/mL. The study concluded that sorafenib tosylate nanosuspension could be a promising approach in the treatment of hepatocellular cancer.

Keywords:

• Central composite design
• HepG2 cells
• hepatocellular cancer
• nanoprecipitation
• nanosuspension
• quadratic model
• sorafenib tosylate

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.