Neda Dadgar, Seyed Ebrahim Alavi, Maedeh Koohi Moftakhari Esfahani, Mohsen Chiani, Sepideh Torabi, Azim Akbarzadeh,
Volume 4, Issue 13 (3-2014)
Aim and Background:
Nano carriers, amongst which liposomes have remarkable significance, have recently revolutionized the treatment of a large number of diseases one of which is known to be cancer. Artemisinin is one of the drugs which are used in cancer treatment, however, despite its effectiveness it has some side effects which can be reduced by using liposomes.
Materials and Methods:
In order to produce nanoliposomal artemisinin, particular proportions of phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol and artemisinin were mixed together. Afterward, the diameters of liposomes we determined by means of Zeta sizer system. The encapsulation efficiency was estimated through spectrophotometery method. The amount of released artemisinin from the formulation was measured by dialysis for 24 hours. Cytotoxicity amount of pegylated nanoliposomal artemisinin was measured by means of MTT assay.
Results:
The mean diameter of nanoliposomes was 455 nm. The encapsulation efficiency and the amount of released drug from artemisinin formulation and pegylated nanoliposomal formulation respectively were 5/3±62/91 and 17/5. The results show that the ratio of the IC50 of the prepared formulation to standard drug is a smaller amount.
Conclusions:
This study explains that the ratio of Cytotoxicity amount of this drug has been decreased compared to the standard drug, which can be achieved by nanoliposome preparation and pegylation of artemisinin.
