In vitro and in vivo study of two types of long-circulating solid lipid nanoparticles containing paclitaxel

Paclitaxel (Taxol), a diterpenoid isolated from Taxus brevifolia, is effective against several murine tumors, and is one of the most exciting anticancer molecules currently available. Due to its low solubility in water, it is clinically administered with polyethoxylated castor oil (Cremophor EL), which causes serious side effects. Inclusion of paclitaxel in solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) has proved to be a good approach to eliminate the need for Cremophor EL and improve the drug's antitumor efficacy. This paper describes the development of two types of long-circulating SLNs as colloidal carriers for paclitaxel. SLNs are constituted mainly of bioacceptable and biodegradable lipids. In vitro release kinetics showed that the release was very slow, the release of paclitaxel from F-68-SLN is linear, and the release of paclitaxel from Brij78-SLN followed the Weibull equation. Pharmacokinetics was evaluated in KM mice after injection of paclitaxel formulated in Cremophor EL or in Brij78-SLN and F-68-SLN. Encapsulation of paclitaxel in both SLNs produced marked differences compared with the free drug pharmacokinetics. F-68-SLN and Brij78-SLN are long-circulating (t(1/2)beta, 10.06 and 4.88 h, respectively) compared with paclitaxel injection (t(1/2)beta, 1.36 h).