Effect of preparation conditions on the size and encapsulation properties of mPEG-PLGA nanoparticles simultaneously loaded with vincristine sulfate and curcumin.

This study prepared monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (mPEG-PLGA) nanoparticles simultaneously loaded with vincristine sulfate (Vin) and curcumin (Cur) via O/W emulsion solvent evaporation. Five independent processing parameters were systematically evaluated to enhance the entrapment of dual agents with different properties (i.e. Vin and Cur, which are the hydrophilic and hydrophobic, respectively) into mPEG-PLGA nanoparticles and to control the particle size. The approaches used to investigate the enhancement of drug entrapment efficiencies and control over the particle size included mPEG-PLGA concentration, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) concentration, initial Vin/Cur content, dichloromethane-to-acetone volume ratio, and aqueous-to-organic phase volume ratio. The nanoparticles produced using the optimum formulation conditions had a particle size of 131.5 nm with a low polydispersity index of 0.047. The entrapment efficiencies were 63.52 ± 2.36% for Vin and 54.60 ± 2.46% for Cur (n = 3). The drug loadings were 1.06 ± 0.04% for Vin and 3.64 ± 0.16% for Cur (n = 3).