Polymeric Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery: Exploring the Co-Encapsulation of SN-38 and Curcumin
Date
2022-09-07
Authors
Cazelais, Amélie
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Abstract
Irinotecan is widely used clinically as an anticancer treatment. The active component, SN-38, is used in research, but with limited clinical uses due to factors including low water solubility, and the molecule’s inactivity above a pH of 6. Using the active form of the drug has many advantages. However, SN-38’s hydrophobicity is an issue. The use of polymer nanoparticles (PNPs) can be explored to encapsulate SN-38 in their hydrophobic cores, possibly leading to further clinical uses. PNPs were made by nanoprecipitation using a microfluidic reactor, then were characterized for morphology, size, and drug content. Encapsulation of SN-38 would solve the problem of hydrophobicity but is difficult to achieve. The research explores the increase in encapsulation efficiency of SN-38 PNPs co-loaded with curcumin, a compound from turmeric, compared to SN-38 PNPs alone.
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curcumin, dynamic light scattering (DLS), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), irinotecan, microfluidics, nanoprecipitation, N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), poly(ε- caprolactone)-b-poly(ethylene glycol) (PCL-b-PEG), polydispersity, polymer nanoparticles (PNPs), rotary evaporation, SN-38