Formulation of a Sustained Release Docetaxel Loaded Cockle Shell-Derived Calcium Carbonate Nanoparticles against Breast Cancer.

Abstract

Here, we explored the formulation of a calcium carbonate nanoparticle delivery system aimed at enhancing docetaxel (DTX) release in breast cancer. The designed nano- anticancer formulation was characterized thorough X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) methods. The nano- anticancer formulation (DTX- CaCO3NP) was evaluated for drug delivery properties thorough in vitro release study in human body simulated solution at pH7.4 and intracellular lysosomal pH4.8. Characterization revealed the successful synthesis of DTX- CaCO3NP, which had a sustained release at pH7.4. TEM showed uniformly distributed pleomorphic shaped pure aragonite particles. The highest entrapment efficiency (96%) and loading content (11.5%) were obtained at docetaxel to nanoparticles ratio of 1:4. The XRD patterns revealed strong crystallizations in all the nanoparticles formulation, while FTIR showed chemical interactions between the drug and nanoparticles with negligible positional shift in the peaks before and after DTX loading. BET analysis showed similar isotherms before and after DTX loading. The designed DTX- CaCO3NP had lower (p<0.05) cytotoxity against MCF-7 cells than DTX at 24h but comparable (p>0.05) effects at 48h and 72h. However, the DTX- CaCO3NP released less than 80% of bond DTX at 48 and 72h but showed comparable effects with free DTX. The results showed that the developed DTX- CaCO3NP released DTX slower at pH7.4 and had comparable cytotoxicity with free DTX at 48 and 72h in MCF-7 cells.