Chitosan/Polylactic Acid/Tripolyphosphate Nanocapsules for Encapsulation of Water-Insoluble Drugs: In vitro Drug Release and Cytotoxicity

Much attention has been paid to chitosan-based nanoparticles for drug and gene delivery. In this study, chitosan/polylactic acid/tripolyphosphate (CS/PLA/TPP) nanoparticles were successfully prepared for encapsulation of insoluble drugs, which was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The nanoparticles were regular, spherical and had a uniform diameter of around 300 nm. The entrapment efficiency of the obtained CS/PLA/TPP nanoparticles for azithromycin (AZI) varied with both the ratio of CS to PLA and the ratio of CS to AZI. The highest entrapment efficiency above 85% was realized, with 4:1 ratio for CS:PLA and 10:13 ratio for CS:AZI. A sustained and controlled in vitro drug release was also observed. Moreover, the CS/PLA/TPP nanoparticles showed little cytotoxicity when co-cultured with Hela and HEK293T cells. Though the CS/PLA/TPP nanoparticles are suitable for most water-insoluble drugs, the entrapment capacity for different drugs varies.