Etoposide-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers for gastric cancer therapy

Gastric carcinoma is one of the most common cancers and the second most frequent cause of cancer-related deaths. The aim of this study was to prepare and characterize etoposide-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (ETP-NLCs) and evaluate their antitumor activity in vitro and in vivo.

Novel ETP-NLCs were constructed. The physicochemical properties of the ETP-NLCs were investigated by particle-size analysis, zeta potential measurement, drug loading, drug entrapment efficiency, stability and in vitro drug release behavior. In vitro cytotoxicity against human gastric cancer cells (SGC7901 cells) was investigated, and in vivo antitumor of NLCs was evaluated on mice bearing SGC7901 cells xenografts.

ETP-NLCs have a narrow size distribution at 91 nm, a zeta potential value of +23.1 mV, high drug entrapment efficiency of 78%. The drug release of ETP-NLCs exhibited a sustained behavior, which made it an ideal vehicle for drug delivery. Furthermore, ETP-NLCs could significantly enhance in vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo antitumor effect against SGC7901 cells and gastric cancer animal model compared to the free drug.

The results demonstrated that the NLCs might be a promising nanomedicine for the treatment of gastric carcinoma.