• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.201-205
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• 2009

Triglyceride solid lipid with medium chain fatty acid, tricaprin (TC), was used as a core matrix of lipid nanoparticles (LN) to solubilize water-insoluble paclitaxel and enhance the stability of nanoparticles by immobilization of incorporated drug in the solid core during storage at low temperature. In the present study, TC-LN containing paclitaxel was prepared by hot melt homogenization method using TC as a core lipid and phospholipids as stabilizers. The particle size of TC-LN containing paclitaxel was less than 200 nm and its zeta potential was around -40 mV. Calorimetric analysis showed TC core could be solidified by freezing and thawing in the manufacturing process in which the hot dispersion should be prepared at elevated temperature and subsequently cooled to obtain solid lipid nanoparticles. The melting transition of TC core was observed at $27.5^{\circ}C$, which was lower than melting point of TC bulk. The particle size of TC-LN remained unchanged when kept at $4^{\circ}C$. Paclitaxel containing TC-LN showed comparable anticancer activity to the Cremophore ELbased paclitaxel formulation against human ovarian (OVCAR-3) and breast (MCF-7) cancer cell lines. Thus, lipid nanoparticles with medium chain solid lipid may have a potential as alternative delivery system for parenteral administration of paclitaxel.