Characterization of purified coconut oil bodies as an encapsulating agent for Doxorubicin and Paclitaxel

ABSTRACT

Introduction@#Doxorubicin (DOX) and paclitaxel (PTX) are both widely used anticancer drugs with a broad spectrum of antitumor activity, commonly against breast, ovarian, and lung cancers. Currently, these drugs are commercially available in liposomal formulations for their use in chemotherapy. This study generally proposed coconut oil bodies (COB) obtained from Cocos nucifera L. as an alternative carrier for DOX and PTX rather than the currently used liposome. @*Objectives@#This study aimed to compare standard liposome and coconut oil bodies as drug carriers in terms of their microencapsulation efficiencies, lipid profiles, in vitro drug release and stability, as well as their cholesterol levels.@*Methods@#Coconut oil bodies (COB) were isolated and purified from Cocos nucifera L. by modified sucrose gradient method followed by microencapsulation of standard drugs (doxorubicin and paclitaxel) through selfassembly and freeze-thaw method. The two standard drugs were encapsulated using COB and standard liposome. Encapsulation efficiency of both materials were determined. Lipid profiles of both encapsulating materials were analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography-flame ionization detector, and cholesterol level determination. In vitro drug release and pH stability of both encapsulated drugs were analyzed. @*Results@#Doxorubicin (DOX) and paclitaxel (PTX) were successfully incorporated in COB. Lauric acid was mainly abundant in COB and was able to lower cholesterol levels (5 mg/dL). COB incorporated with DOX and PTX showed stability at acidic and neutral pH. Drug release profile showed a rapid outburst within 3 hours compared to liposome encapsulated DOX and PTX. @*Conclusion@#Our study showed the encouraging potentials of using COB as wall materials that will make them attractive candidates for the formulation of pharmaceuticals for optimized drug delivery of cancer chemotherapeutics DOX and PTX