Improving antitumor outcomes for palliative intratumoral injection therapy through lecithin–chitosan nanoparticles loading paclitaxel–cholesterol complex

• Main Authors: Chu XY, Huang W, Wang YL, Meng LW, Chen LQ, Jin MJ, Chen L, Gao CH, Ge C, Gao ZG, Gao CS
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2019-01-01
• Series: International Journal of Nanomedicine
• Subjects: lecithin; chitosan; paclitaxel; nanoparticles; pH responsive; palliative chemotherapy; intratumoral injection
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/improving-antitumor-outcomes-for-palliative-intratumoral-injection-the-peer-reviewed-article-IJN

Xiao-Yang Chu,1–3,* Wei Huang,2,* Yu-Li Wang,1 Ling-Wei Meng,2 Li-Qing Chen,2 Ming-Ji Jin,2 Lu Chen,1 Chun-Hong Gao,1 Cheng Ge,3 Zhong-Gao Gao,2 Chun-Sheng Gao11State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing 100850, P.R. China; 2State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Department of Pharmaceutics, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, P.R. China; 3Department of Stomatology, The 5th Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100071, P.R. China *These authors contributed equally to this workBackground: Intratumoral injection is a palliative treatment that aims at further improvement in the survival and quality of life of patients with advanced or recurrent carcinomas, or cancer patients with severe comorbidities or those with a poor performance status.Methods: In this study, a solvent-injection method was used to prepare paclitaxel–cholesterol complex-loaded lecithin–chitosan nanoparticles (PTX-CH-loaded LCS_NPs) for intratumoral injection therapy, and the physicochemical properties of NPs were well characterized.Results: The particle size and zeta potential of PTX-CH-loaded LCS_NPs were 142.83±0.25 nm and 13.50±0.20 mV, respectively. Release behavior of PTX from PTX-CH-loaded LCS_NPs showed a pH-sensitive pattern. The result of cell uptake assay showed that PTX-CH-loaded LCS_NPs could effectively enter cells via the energy-dependent caveolae-mediated endocytosis and macropinocytosis in company with the Golgi apparatus. Meanwhile, PTX-CH-loaded LCS_NPs had a better ability to induce cell apoptosis than PTX solution. The in vivo antitumor results suggested that PTX-CH-loaded LCS_NPs effectively inhibited mouse mammary cancer growth and metastasis to distant organs and significantly improved the survival rate of tumor-bearing mice by intratumoral administration.Conclusion: In general, our study demonstrated that PTX-CH-loaded LCS_NPs used for palliative treatment by intratumoral injection showed improved safety and antitumor efficacy, which provided an alternative approach in the field of palliative chemotherapy. Keywords: lecithin, chitosan, paclitaxel, nanoparticles, pH responsive, palliative chemotherapy, intratumoral injection