Breast cancer is considered as the second most common cause of cancer death among women in Europe and USA, while it has a highest incident rate among women of the Asian region. Irinotecan is used as a first- and second-line regimen for metastatic colorectal, small cell lung and some other cancer types. The objective of this study was to develop Irinotecan nanoparticles (NPs) using folate‐chitosan conjugate (FCC) for more effective delivery of Irinotecan on breast cancer cells.
In this study, we synthesized the FCC system using carbodiimide synthesis. Irinotecan loaded FCC NPs were synthesized by ionic cross-linking with sodium tripolyphosphate. The effect of several variables on the NPs’ characteristics was assessed, including the amount of drug and FCC ratio. The entrapment efficiency and the particle size distribution of irinotecan were optimized by changing these variables. The cytotoxicity of the particles was evaluated by cell viability assay (MTT assay) using breast cancer cell line (MCF‐7).
NPs were spherical with a comparatively mono-dispersed size distribution (average size ≈93 nm) and negative zeta potential. Selected optimized formulation (F9) showed a suitable size distribution (≈105 nm) with relatively high drug entrapment (>75%). MTT assay showed a stronger cytotoxicity of F9 against MCF-7 cancer cells than control NPs and irinotecan free drug. Since breast cancer cells express folate receptors on their surface, these irinotecan loaded folic acid–Chitosan conjugated NPs could be used for targeted delivery against metastatic breast cancer with some modifications.
Our study findings demonstrated that the designed NPs show suitable characteristic and also great potential for further
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All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.