Zhao X, Chen Q, Li Y, Tang H, Liu W, Yang X. Doxorubicin and curcumin co-delivery by lipid nanoparticles for enhanced treatment of diethylnitrosamine-induced hepatocellular carcinoma in mice.
Eur J Pharm Biopharm 2015;
93:27-36. [PMID:
25770771 DOI:
10.1016/j.ejpb.2015.03.003]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2014] [Revised: 02/01/2015] [Accepted: 03/03/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
At present, the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an international problem. The delivery of a chemotherapeutic agent and chemosensitizer using nanocarriers has been suggested as a novel and promising strategy in cancer treatment. However, such studies in HCC remain very limited. In this study, we developed doxorubicin (DOX) and curcumin (Cur) co-delivery lipid nanoparticles (DOX/Cur-NPs) and examined its inhibitory effect on diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced HCC in mice. DOX/Cur-NPs displayed the physicochemical characterizations with uniform particle size, high encapsulation efficacy and sustained release profile. In DNE-induced HCC mice treated with DOX/Cur-NPs, we observed decreased liver damage assessed by serum ALT and AST levels, liver/body weight ratio, and histopathological analysis. Compared with DOX-loaded nanoparticles (DOX-NPs), DOX/Cur-NPs induced increased Caspase-3 and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, and decreased C-myc, PCNA and VEGF. The results revealed the synergistic effect of DOX/Cur-NPs on the apoptosis, proliferation and angiogenesis of HCC. The mRNA levels of MDR1, bcl-2 and HIF-1α, and protein levels of P-gp, Bcl-2 and HIF-1α were decreased in DOX/Cur-NPs than those in DOX-NPs, indicating that Cur might reverse multidrug resistance (MDR) through these pathways. In HCC cells, enhanced cytotoxicity and decreased IC50 and resistant index further confirmed the synergistic effects of DOX/Cur-NPs than DOX-NPs. Our studies suggest that simultaneous delivery of DOX and Cur by DOX/Cur-NPs may be a promising treatment for HCC.
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