Title: Preparation and characterisation of 5-fluorouracil containing PLGA nanospheres coated with chitosan, for drug delivery

Authors: Adriana Calderini; Francisco B.T. Pessine; Gilberto C. Franchi; Alexandre E. Nowill

Addresses: Department of Physical Chemistry, Chemistry Institute, University of Campinas, 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil ' Department of Physical Chemistry, Chemistry Institute, University of Campinas, 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil ' Onco-Hematological Child Research Center, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas, 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil ' Onco-Hematological Child Research Center, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas, 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil

Abstract: The aim of this study was to design a new Drug Delivery System (DDS) based on poly (lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) biodegradable nanospheres (NS) coated with Chitosan (CTS), in order to prolong its residence time and to deliver the nanoparticles more specifically to cancer cells. We have tried three methods of incorporation of Chitosan in the nanoparticles, but only one was efficient. The first method is named entanglement of chains, the second method is known as single adsorption and, in the third, we prior linked covalently Chitosan to the polymer and then prepared the nanoparticles. After selected the best method, it was monitored the stability following the temporal variation of diameter, polydispersity and zeta potential of particles prepared using different percentages of CTS and pH values, using a pre-optimised formulation of 5-fluorouracil containing PLGA NS.

Keywords: 5-fluorouracil; chitosan; PLGA nanospheres; drug delivery; nanotechnology; poly(lactide-co-glycolide); biodegradable nanospheres; nanoparticles; cancer cells; cancer drugs.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNT.2012.049450

International Journal of Nanotechnology, 2012 Vol.9 No.10/11/12, pp.851 - 861

Published online: 04 Oct 2012 *

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