Design and development of paclitaxel-loaded bovine serum albumin nanoparticles for brain targeting

Bovine serum albumin (BSA) nanoparticles loaded with paclitaxel (PTX) were prepared using a desolvation technique. A 3(2) full factorial design (FFD) was employed to formulate nanoparticles. Nanoparticles were characterized for particle size by photon correlation spectroscopy and surface morphology by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Encapsulation efficiency, zeta potential and particle yield were also determined. Response surface linear modelling (RSLM) was used to predict the optimal formulation. Various models were applied to determine the release mechanism from PTX nanoparticles. The effect of drug-polymer ratio on the release profile of formulations was observed and was applied to determine the suitability of the predicted optimal formulation. A preliminary study to determine the feasibility of targeting the prepared nanoparticles to brain was also carried out using mice as in vivo models.