Iranian researchers succeeded in the production of a new drug delivery nano-system with applications in the treatment of cancer.
Biocompatible and biodegradable polymers have been used in the production of the nanodrug, which decrease the toxicity of the drug carrier. The produced nano-drug has been successful in the treatment of breast tumor in animal sample.
In the past decade, polymeric missiles have been reported as reliable systems for drug carriers, specially for hydrophobic medicines according to their relatively successful clinical results. These materials enable the large accumulation of the drug in tumor tissue through increasing the diffusion due to their small size.
In this research, a missile system has been produced by using biocompatible and biodegradable polymers including hyaluronic acid and phospholipids for drug delivery of low-soluble materials in water, and its physical and chemical properties have been studied. Next, the missile system was used in target delivery of paclitaxel drug for the treatment of breast tumor in animal samples.
Result of the research shows an increase in the performance of the drug in the treatment of this type of cancer, and it may decrease side effects of the drug.
The results also proved the high potential of the missile system in increasing the solubility of paclitaxel drug. The use of missiles in the structure of the drug delivery system solves the problem of using chromophore – which is not very safe – in the formulation of the drug.
Based on the results, the drug was released from the optimized missile system in about 34 hours. Stability studies on missile system confirmed the appropriate physical and chemical stability of the missiles in 6 months.
Results of the research have been published in Journal of Applied Polymer Science, vol. 131, issue 20, 2014, pp. 40944-1 to 40944-8.