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Research Article

Design and characterisation of doxorubicin-releasing chitosan microspheres for anti-cancer chemoembolisation

, , , , , , & show all
Pages 695-705 | Received 02 Nov 2011, Accepted 09 Apr 2012, Published online: 14 May 2012
 

Abstract

The aims of this study were to design and characterise doxorubicin-loaded chitosan microspheres for anti-cancer chemoembolisation. Doxorubicin-loaded chitosan microspheres were prepared by emulsification and cross-linking methods. Doxorubicin–chitosan solution was initially complexed with tripolyphosphate (TPP) to improve drug loading capabilities. Doxorubicin-loaded chitosan microspheres were highly spherical and had approximately diameters of 130–160 µm in size. Drug loading amount and loading efficiency were in the range 3.7–4.0% and 68.5–85.8%, respectively, and affected by TPP concentration, drug levels and cross-linking time. Doxorubicin release was affected by TPP complexation, cross-linking time and release medium. Especially, lysozyme in release media considerably increased drug release. Synergistic anti-cancer activities of doxorubicin-releasing chitosan microspheres were confirmed to VX2 cells in the rabbit auricle model compared with blank microspheres. Doxorubicin-loaded chitosan microspheres can efficiently be prepared by TPP gelation and cross-linking method and developed as multifunctional anti-cancer embolic material.

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