(674c) Chitosan-Coated Core-Shell Microparticles for Synergistic Delivery of Vitamins and Anti-Cancer Drugs

As cancer takes its toll on human health and well-being, standard treatment techniques such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy often fall short of ideal solutions.  In particular, adverse side effects due to excess dosage and collateral damage to healthy cells continue to pose challenges in cancer treatment.  Controlled and targeted delivery of multiple drugs is required to address these issues, and one of the promising routes is the deployment of polymeric microparticles as encapsulants and carriers of the drugs. 

In this work, multi-layered polymeric microparticles have been employed as encapsulants for a cocktail of remedial agents. In particular, we investigate co-delivery of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), AA, and two of the most commonly used anticancer drugs, paclitaxel (TAX) and doxorubicin (DOX), through the use of triple-layered microparticles. Microparticles of controlled particle size were fabricated through a combination of co-axial electrohydrodynamic atomization and emulsion-evaporation techniques. Poly (_D,L lactide) and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), two biodegradable and biocompatible synthesized polymers, were used to encapsulate drugs within the core and inner-shell, respectively. Chitosan was used as the outer shell (third layer) to increase the hydrophilicity of the particles and to render the surface positively charged for better interaction with the negatively charged cell membrane. The triple-layered microparticles were characterized using SEM and laser scanning confocal microscopy. Zeta potential and FTIR experiments confirmed adsorption of chitosan at the surface of particles. The amount of protein adsorbed at the surface of the particles was measured using BCA protein Assey kit. Zeta potential measurements showed that the particles were stable in Phosphate buffered saline (PBS) for several days. In-vitro tests were conducted in order to optimize the release profiles and maximize therapeutic efficacy of the loaded agents.

The results demonstrated significant increase in the efficacy of the encapsulated drugs due to effective delivery of the drugs in an active form to cells.