Preparation,physicochemical characterization and cytotoxicity in vitro of gemcitabine-loaded PEG-PDLLA nanovesicles

AIM:To investigate the preparation,physicochemical characterization and cytotoxicity in vitro of Gemcitabine-loaded poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(D,L-lactide) (PEG-PDLLA) nanovesicles. METHODS:The nanovesicle carriers were prepared from the amphiphilic block copolymer of PEG-PDLLA by a double emulsion technique,and gemcitabine was used as the model drug. The morphology of the nanovesicles was determined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy,and the drug content,drug entrapment and drug-release curve in vitro were detected by UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometry. Cytotoxicity in the human pancreatic cancer cell line SW1990 was tested by 3-(4,5-dimethyl) ethiazole (MTT) assay.RESULTS:The gemcitabine-loaded nanovesicles were hollow nanospheres with a mean size of 200.6 nm,drugloading of 4.14% and drug embedding ratio of 20.54%. The nanovesicles showed excellent controlled release that was characterized by a fast initial release during the first 72 h,followed by a slower and continuous release. The MTT assay demonstrated that gemcitabine-loaded nanovesicles exhibited dose-dependent and time-delayed cytotoxicity in the human pancreatic cancer cell line SW1990.CONCLUSION:Gemcitabine-loaded PEG-PDLLA nanovesicles prepared by a double emulsion technique exhibited good performance for controlled drug release,and had similar cytotoxic activity to free gem-citabine.