Antitumor Efficiency of Doxorubicin Loaded in Liposomes and Poly Ethylene Glycol Coated Ferrofluid Nanoparticles

Antitumor Efficiency of Doxorubicin Loaded in Liposomes and Poly Ethylene Glycol Coated Ferrofluid Nanoparticles

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the antitumor effect of doxorubicin (Dox) after loading in liposomes and PEG coated iron oxide fluidized magnetic nanoparticles (ferrofluids or FMNP).
Methods: Liposomal Dox was prepared from phosphatidylcholine (PC) and characterized by  ncapsulation efficiency, particle size and zeta potential. On the other hand, the prepared FMNP, coated by PEG and loaded by Dox, were characterized by magnetism, morphology, particle size and stability. FTIR was carried out to study Dox interaction with both delivery systems. The antitumor activity of loaded Dox was investigated for the tumor size, survival assay and histopathological examination of the tumor specimen and then compared to free Dox. Animals injected by Dox loaded FMNP were further subjected to external magnetic field.
Results: Liposomal Dox showed encapsulation efficiency of 84 ± 4.5 %. They had an average size of 199.2 ± 54.35 nm and a zeta potential of -44.3 ± 9.17 mV. The prepared FMNP showed roughly spherical shape, with an average size of 17.61351 ± 3.09 nm, which decreased after loading with Dox to 9.33314 ± 1.7984 nm. It was found that, each 800 μL of FMNP can be saturated with 0.1 μg Dox before which, the amount of loading was increased gradually; however, the loading was decreased after 1 h. FTIR revealed the absence of any interaction between Dox and lipid. Liposomal Dox and FMNP loaded Dox (subjected to external magnet) showed an enhancement of 100% and 83.33%, respectively, in the survival assayand 80% and 90%, respectively, for the tumor necrosis index.
Conclusion: Liposomes and FMNP (with an external electromagnetic field) have increased the intratumoral accumulation of Dox and hence increase the chemotherapeutic bioavailability.