In vitro cytotoxicity and bioavailability of solid lipid nanoparticles containing tamoxifen citrate

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) loaded with the poorly water-soluble drug tamoxifen citrate (TC) on the in vitro antitumor activity and bioavailability of the drug. TC-loaded SLN were prepared by solvent injection method using glycerol monostearate (GMS) or stearic acid (SA) as lipid matrix. Poloxamer 188 or tween 80 were used as stabilizers. TC-loaded SLN (F3 and F4) prepared using GMS and stabilized by poloxamer 188 showed highest entrapment efficiency % (86.07 ± 1.74 and 90.40 ± 1.22%) and reasonable mean particle sizes (130.40 ± 9.45 and 243.80 ± 12.33 nm), respectively. The in vitro release of TC from F3 and F4 exhibited an initial burst effect followed by a sustained drug release. In vitro cytotoxicity of F3 against human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 showed comparable antitumor activity to free drug. Moreover, the results of bioavailability evaluation of TC-loaded SLN in rats compared to free TC indicated that 160.61% increase in the oral bioavailability of TC. The obtained results suggest that incorporation of the poorly water-soluble drug TC in SLN preserves the in vitro antitumor activity and significantly enhance oral bioavailability of TC in rats.