Experimental design and desirability function approach for development of novel anticancer nanocarrier delivery systems

The therapeutic effects of anticancer drugs would highly improve if problems with low water solubility and toxic adverse reactions could be solved. In this work, a full factorial experimental design was used to develop a polymeric nanoparticulate delivery system as an alternative technique for anticancer drug delivery. Nanoparticles containing tamoxifen citrate were prepared and characterized using an O/W emulsification-solvent evaporation technique and different analytical methods. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), particle size analysis and High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) were used for characterization of nanoparticles. Nanoparticles' characteristics including size, size distribution, drug loading and the efficiency of encapsulation were optimized by means of a full factorial experimental design over the influence of four different independent variables and desirability function using Design-Expert software. The resulting tamoxifen loaded nanoparticles showed the best response with particle sizes less than 200 nm, improved encapsulation efficiency of more than 80% and the optimum loading of above 30%. The overall results demonstrate the implication of desirability function in experimental design as a beneficial approach in nanoparticle drug delivery design.