Preparation and characterization of solid lipid nanoparticles loaded with doxorubicin

Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) loaded with doxorubicin were prepared by solvent emulsification-diffusion method. Glyceryl caprate (Capmul ®MCM C10) was used as lipid core, and curdlan as the shell material. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was used to dissolve both lipid and drug. Polyethylene glycol 660 hydroxystearate (Solutol ®HS15) was employed as surfactant. Major formulation parameters were optimized to obtain high quality nanoparticles. The mean particle size measured by photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) was 199 nm. The entrapment efficiency (EE) and drug loading capacity (DL), determined with fluorescence spectroscopy, were 67.5 ± 2.4% and 2.8 ± 0.1%, respectively. The drug release behavior was studied by in vitro method. Cell viability assay showed that properties of SLN remain unchanged during the process of freeze-drying. Stability study revealed that lyophilized SLN were equally effective ( p < 0.05) after 1 year of storage at 4 °C. In conclusion, SLN with small particle size, high EE, and relatively high DL for doxorubicin can be obtained by this method.