Amphiphilic nanoparticles based on poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) and stearoyl modified chitosan as drug vehicles for paclitaxel delivery

Poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) and stearoyl chloride (SC) double-grafted chitosan (PCS) nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared for paclitaxel (PTX) delivery. PTX could be effectively loaded into PCS NPs with encapsulation efficiency of 92.8%. PTX-loaded PCS NPs (PTX/PCS NPs), which possessed particle sizes of 144 nm and Zeta potentials of -7.5 mV, exhibited a sustained release behavior. In H-22 tumor bearing mice, significantly enhanced antitumor efficacies were achieved by PTX/PCS NPs with the tumor inhibition ratio (TIR) of 76.1% as compared with PTX injection. Furthermore, no signs of sub-acute toxicity were detected in healthy mice, indicating the safety of PCS NPs. Therefore, PCS NPs could be served as an effective and safe carrier for PTX delivery. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.