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Volume 10
Issue 4
10.3390/gels10040274
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Article

Optimized Synthesis of Poly(Lactic Acid) Nanoparticles for the Encapsulation of Flutamide

by
Duarte Almeida
1,2,†,
Mariana Dias
3,†,
Beatriz Teixeira
4,
Carolina Frazão
4,
Mónica Almeida
4,
Gil Gonçalves
1,2,
Miguel Oliveira
4,* and
Ricardo J. B. Pinto
3,*
1
TEMA—Centre for Mechanical Technology and Automation, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
2
Intelligent Systems Associate Laboratory (LASI), 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
3
CICECO—Aveiro Institute of Materials, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
4
CESAM—Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Gels 2024, 10(4), 274; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10040274
Submission received: 23 March 2024 / Revised: 15 April 2024 / Accepted: 17 April 2024 / Published: 18 April 2024
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering and Drug Delivery)
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Abstract

Biopolymeric nanoparticles (NPs) have gained significant attention in several areas as an alternative to synthetic polymeric NPs due to growing environmental and immunological concerns. Among the most promising biopolymers is poly(lactic acid) (PLA), with a reported high degree of biocompatibility and biodegradability. In this work, PLA NPs were synthesized according to a controlled gelation process using a combination of single-emulsion and nanoprecipitation methods. This study evaluated the influence of several experimental parameters for accurate control of the PLA NPs’ size distribution and aggregation. Tip sonication (as the stirring method), a PLA concentration of 10 mg/mL, a PVA concentration of 2.5 mg/mL, and low-molecular-weight PLA (Mw = 5000) were established as the best experimental conditions to obtain monodisperse PLA NPs. After gelification process optimization, flutamide (FLU) was used as a model drug to evaluate the encapsulation capability of the PLA NPs. The results showed an encapsulation efficiency of 44% for this cytostatic compound. Furthermore, preliminary cell viability tests showed that the FLU@PLA NPs allowed cell viabilities above 90% up to a concentration of 20 mg/L. The comprehensive findings showcase that the PLA NPs fabricated using this straightforward gelification method hold promise for encapsulating cytostatic compounds, offering a novel avenue for precise drug delivery in cancer therapy.
Keywords: biopolymers; poly(lactic acid); nanoparticles; gelification; nanoencapsulation; cytostatic compounds; drug delivery; cancer therapy; nanocomposites biopolymers; poly(lactic acid); nanoparticles; gelification; nanoencapsulation; cytostatic compounds; drug delivery; cancer therapy; nanocomposites
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MDPI and ACS Style

Almeida, D.; Dias, M.; Teixeira, B.; Frazão, C.; Almeida, M.; Gonçalves, G.; Oliveira, M.; Pinto, R.J.B. Optimized Synthesis of Poly(Lactic Acid) Nanoparticles for the Encapsulation of Flutamide. Gels 2024, 10, 274. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10040274

AMA Style

Almeida D, Dias M, Teixeira B, Frazão C, Almeida M, Gonçalves G, Oliveira M, Pinto RJB. Optimized Synthesis of Poly(Lactic Acid) Nanoparticles for the Encapsulation of Flutamide. Gels. 2024; 10(4):274. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10040274

Chicago/Turabian Style

Almeida, Duarte, Mariana Dias, Beatriz Teixeira, Carolina Frazão, Mónica Almeida, Gil Gonçalves, Miguel Oliveira, and Ricardo J. B. Pinto. 2024. "Optimized Synthesis of Poly(Lactic Acid) Nanoparticles for the Encapsulation of Flutamide" Gels 10, no. 4: 274. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10040274

APA Style

Almeida, D., Dias, M., Teixeira, B., Frazão, C., Almeida, M., Gonçalves, G., Oliveira, M., & Pinto, R. J. B. (2024). Optimized Synthesis of Poly(Lactic Acid) Nanoparticles for the Encapsulation of Flutamide. Gels, 10(4), 274. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10040274

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