Formulation and Invitro Evaluation of Nanoparticulate Drug Delivery System Loaded With 5-Fluorouracil

Over the past few years, development of targeted nanoparticles showed an enormous impact on the treatment of primary and advanced metastatic tumours. These nanoparticles can deliver drugs at a sustained rate directly to cancer cells which provide better therapy by lowering dose and thereby toxicity. Recently, albumin based nanoparticles have attained much attention owing to its biodegradability, biocompatibility and the ability to deliver a wide range of drugs. The objective of this study was to formulate and evaluate albumin nanoparticles containing 5-Fluorouracil.

The albumin nanoparticles containing 5-Fluorouracil were prepared by coacervation method with different concentrations of drug and polymer. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized for their pre-formulation and post formulation parameters.

The mean particle size of the selected batch was found to be 441.5 nm and surface charge was -30.3 mV. The drug loading capacity of the nanoparticles were in the rage of 7.87% to 21.28%. In vitro release of all formulations showed a biphasic release pattern with an initial burst effect followed by a sustained release up to 24 hrs in pH 7.4 phosphate buffers.

Finally it can be concluded that the formulated nanoparticulate delivery system of 5-Fluorouracil was capable of exhibiting sustained release action for a period of 24 hours. This reduces the amount of drug to be administered along with frequency of dosing, thereby minimizing the systemic side effects, improve bioavailability and thereby increasing the therapeutic effectiveness of the drug.