Effect of Differential Drying Techniques on PLGA Nanoparticles Containing Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Anticancer Agents

Abstract

Aim: Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles containing both paclitaxel (PTX) and gemcitabine hydrochloride (GEM) were prepared and the effect of lyophilization and spray drying on physicochemical characteristics of these nanoparticles were evaluated. Methods: Nanoemulsions were prepared by oil-in-water emulsion solvent diffusion technique using sonication and high-pressure homogenization. Nanoemulsion was dried using lyophilization or spray drying and drug content analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results: The particle size of the nanoemulsion was 183.6 ± 10.8 nm and the entrapment efficiency for PTX and GEM was 72.01 ± 1.35% and 6.95 ± 3.97%. Many properties including particle size, stability, surface morphology, moisture content, release characteristic and cellular uptake in MDCK and MDA-MB-231 cells were affected by the method of drying. Conclusion: The lyophilized nanoparticles were smaller in size with higher stability and cellular uptake than spray-dried nanoparticles.

Keywords:

• gemcitabine
• lyophilization
• MDA-MB-231 cells
• MDCK
• paclitaxel
• PLGA
• spray drying

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank L Shlyakhtenko from the University of Nebraska Medical Center (NE, USA) for her assistance with atomic force microscopy analysis and S Mohapatra from the University of Minnesota (MN, USA) for his help with the x-ray diffraction analysis.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors are thankful to the Department of Pharmacy Sciences, Creighton University (NE, USA) for funding the present work. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.