Development and characterization of chitosan-pluronic nanoparticles for tamoxifen delivery and cytotoxicity to MCF-7 cells

In this study, tamoxifen-loaded chitosan-pluronic nanoparticles have been prepared by an ionic gelation (IG) method. Particle size analysis, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Zeta potential measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used for nanoparticle characterization. The cytotoxicity of the nanoparticles was assayed in the MCF-7 cell line. The optimized tamoxifen loaded nanoparticles had a spherical shape with positive charge and mean diameter 150 to 300 nm. The FT-IR and DSC studies found that the drug was dispersed in amorphous form due to its potent interaction with nanoparticles matrix. The maximum encapsulation efficiency was obtained at 8mg/ml tamoxifen. The tamoxifen loaded chitosan-pluronic nanoparticles had good blood compatibility and the particles were nontoxic to the MCF-7 cell line. All study results suggest that the nanoparticles could be used as an effective drug delivery carrier for the breast cancer treatment.