Zinc phthalocyanine-loaded PLGA biodegradable nanoparticles for photodynamic therapy in tumor-bearing mice

Abstract

Nanoparticles formulated from the biodegradable copolymer poly(lactic-coglycolic acid) (PLGA) were investigated as a drug delivery system to enhance tissue uptake, permeation, and targeting of zinc(II) phthalocyanine (ZnPc) for photodynamic therapy. Three ZnPc nanoparticle formulations were prepared using a solvent emulsion evaporation method and the influence of sonication time on nanoparticle shape, encapsulation and size distribution, in vitro release, and in vivo photodynamic efficiency in tumor-bearing mice were studied. Sonication time did not affect the process yield or encapsulation efficiency, but did affect significantly the particle size. Sonication for 20 min reduced the mean particle size to 374.3 nm and the in vitro release studies demonstrated a controlled release profile of ZnPc. Tumor-bearing mice injected with ZnPc nanoparticles exhibited significantly smaller mean tumor volume, increased tumor growth delay and longer survival compared with the control group and the group injected with free ZnPc during the time course of the experiment. Histopathological examination of tumor from animals treated with PLGA ZnPc showed regression of tumor cells, in contrast to those obtained from animals treated with free ZnPc. The results indicate that ZnPc encapsulated in PLGA nanoparticles is a successful delivery system for improving photodynamic activity in the target tissue.

Enhanced photodynamic efficacy of PLGA-encapsulated 5-ALA nanoparticles in mice bearing Ehrlich ascites carcinoma

“…When compared to high-dose administration of free Ce6 (2.5 mg/kg), low-dose administration of NP1 NPs (equivalent Ce6 0.5 mg/kg body) were found to be more efficient for tumor regression . Also our results coincide with the results obtained by Fadel et al (2010).…”

“…7b. These results are in accordance with the results obtained by Lee et al (2012) and Fadel et al (2010). They formulated nanoparticles from the biodegradable copolymer poly (lactic-co glycolic acid) (PLGA) for targeting of zinc (II) phthalocyanine (ZnPc) for PDT in Ehrlich ascites carcinoma bearing mice.…”

“…Tumor-bearing mice injected with ZnPc NPs exhibited significantly smaller mean tumor volume, increased tumor growth delay when compared with the control group and the group injected with free ZnPc during the time course of the experiment. Histopathological examination of tumor from animals treated with PLGA-ZnPc showed regression of tumor cells, in contrast to those obtained from animals treated with free ZnPc (Fadel et al 2010).…”

A study of the optical band gap of zinc phthalocyanine nanoparticles using UV–Vis spectroscopy and DFT function

“…Zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) is an organic semiconductor compound (Eley 1948), which is used as a photosensitizer for Photodynamic therapy (PDT) (Fadel et al 2010;Ping et al 2016); and in optoelectronic applications such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) (Run-Da et al 2013;Heo et al 2013) and organic photovoltaics (OPVs) (Kim and Bard 2004). The size effect on the electrical and optical properties of metal-free phthalocyanine nanoparticles have been studied using the physical method such as mechanical grinding, it's found that as the material's size gets smaller their photoconductivity efficiency was improved (Saito et al 1991).…”

Protoporphyrin IX-loaded magnetoliposomes as a potential drug delivery system for photodynamic therapy: Fabrication, characterization and in vitro study

“…In this process, the photosensitizer acts as an energy transducer and transfers energy to molecular oxygen, resulting in the production of many reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as singlet oxygen ( 1 O2), hydrogen peroxide(H2O2), and superoxide radicals (O2-). Singlet oxygen ( 1 O2) is a predominant cytotoxic agent in PDT [14][15][16].…”