Natural lipids enriched self-nano-emulsifying systems for effective co-delivery of tamoxifen and naringenin: Systematic approach for improved breast cancer therapeutics.

The nano-miceller drug delivery carriers of tamoxifen (TMX) having natural ingredients like polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) with self-nano-emulsifying properties was developed with naringenin (NG) in a synergistic manner i.e. TMX-NG-SNEDDS. The optimized nano-formulation revealed complete drug release in 30 min and >80% permeation in 45 min. Superior cellular uptake potential (4.6-6.5-fold) of the TMX-NG-SNEDDS using Caco-2 cells while cytotoxicity study on MCF-7 cells indicated significant results (P<0.05) of TMX-NG-SNEDDS. The in vivo pharmacokinetic study also construed remarkable improvement (7.3 and 11.4-fold increase in Cmax and AUC) in rate of drug absorption and 2-fold reduction in Tmax by optimized TMX-NG-SNEDDS. In vivo DMBA model construed superior efficacy of the formulation by reducing tumor size, and improved survival rate of the animals justifies its safety aspect as well.