Ratio of Drug/carrier as Dominant Factor in Determining Size of Doxorubicin-Loaded Beta-1,3- Glucan Nanoparticles: A Study using Artificial Neural Networks

Particle size is an important parameter in determining many properties of nanoparticles. In this work, nanoparticles of β-1,3-glucan containing doxorubicin (Dox) in conjugated and unconjugated forms (Con-Dox-Glu and Un-Dox-Glu, respectively) were prepared. Then, artificial neural networks (ANNs) were employed to find the impact of different processing/formulation factors on their particle size, which was measured using dynamic light scattering (DLS). The parameters included ratio of Dox/Carrier as well as concentrations of polyethyleneimine (PEI), NaOH and succinic anhydride (Sa). To do so, we prepared fifty samples having different values of the four parameters and measured their particle size. The data were divided randomly into training, test and unseen data. The ANN model demonstrated that in both conjugated and unconjugated forms, the dominant factor determining the particle size is Dox/Carrier ratio. Also, concentration of PEI showed to be important in determining particle size of unconjugated form of the nanoparticles. The remaining parameters indicated no considerable effect on the particle size.