ABSTRACT
The objective of the present work is to study the biodistribution and tumor retention properties of etoposide (anticancer agent) and etoposide loaded tripalmitin nanoparticles (ETPL) after intratumoral administration in Dalton's lymphoma tumor bearing mice. ETPL nanoparticles were prepared by melt-emulsification and high pressure homogenization followed by spray drying technique. The nanoparticles were uniform and possessed 387 nm mean diameter and negative charge with excellent redispersibility in aqueous media. Radiolabeling of etoposide and ETPL nanoparticles with Technetium-99m (99mTc) resulted in complexes with high labeling efficiency and low radiocolloid formation. The labeled complexes showed good in vitro stability as indicated by low transchelation in presence of DTPA and cysteine and stability in human serum. Biodistribution and tumor retention studies were performed for etoposide and ETPL nanoparticles after intratumoral injection in mice bearing Dalton's lymphoma tumor. Etoposide experienced rapid clearance from the tumor, while the disposition of ETPL nanoparticles was slower. The tissue concentrations of ETPL nanoparticles increased with time (i.e. at 6h and 24h post injection) indicating its retention in tumor site for a longer time. Tumor retention of both etoposide and ETPL nanoparticles was studied upto 48h post injection. The tumor concentration of both etoposide and ETPL nanoparticles was high initially (8.57 percent and 41.8 percent injected dose at 0.5h post injection) and decreased with time (0.12 percent and 1.68 percent injected dose at 48h post injection). The concentration of etoposide rapidly declined from the tumor site while the tumor retention of ETPL nanoparticles was significantly higher than free etoposide (P < 0.001) at all the time points studied. The over all many fold higher tumor retention of ETPL nanoparticles (14 folds even at 48h post injection) compared to etoposide, coupled with lower tissue distribution signifies...