Synthesis and evaluation of double-layered nanoliposomes surface-modified by bacterial cellulose nanofibers and chitosan for oral co-delivery of paclitaxel and curcumin

Context: Drug resistance and other problems that could lead to treatment failure are possible side effects of chemotherapy medications used to treat cancer. Co-administration of paclitaxel (PAC) with curcumin (CUR) reduced adverse effects and increased antitumor efficaciousness. Aims: To synthesize, optimize, and characterize double-layered nanoliposomes (LIP) surface-modified by chitosan (CH) and bacterial cellulose nanofibers (BCN) as efficient sustained-release carriers for oral usage in the co-administration of PAC and CUR. Methods: LIP-PAC-CUR and BCN-CH-LIP-PAC-CUR were produced by thin-film evaporation and electrostatic deposition techniques. Using the Box-Behnken design, several independent factors were optimized to determine the dependent variables of particle size, PAC, and CUR encapsulation efficiency (EE%). The created system was characterized using particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential, morphological analysis, stability tests, EE%, and in vitro dissolution experiments of the optimized formulation. Results: An optimized model of the formulation for BCN-CH-LIP-PAC-CUR was validated. LIP-PAC-CUR and optimized BCN-CH-LIP-PAC-CUR were synthesized with vesicle sizes in the nano-range, 127.5 ± 3.8 nm and 179.1 ± 5.6 nm; EE% of 90.4 ± 3.2% (PAC) or 72.8 ± 2.7% (CUR) and 93.8 ± 2.9% (PAC) or 74.7 ± 3.3% (CUR), respectively. Based on the evaluation of the CUR or PAC release profiles of BCN-CH-LIP-PAC-CUR at pH 7.4, BCN-CH-LIP-PAC-CUR showed sustained PAC or CUR release. It was discovered that the Higuchi model and the Fickian diffusion sustained drug release mechanism were followed by the PAC or CUR release from BCN-CH-LIP-PAC-CUR. Conclusions: The results demonstrate the successful synthesis, optimization, characterization, and evaluation of BCN-CH-LIP-PAC-CUR for the oral co-delivery of PAC and CUR. These findings suggest that BCN-CH-LIP-PAC-CUR is a potential option for this co-delivery.