Synthesis of nanoparticles loaded with tamoxifen by in situ miniemulsion RAFT polymerization

Abstract

Tamoxifen (TXF) is a drug used as a hormonal agent for treatment of breast cancer. Due to its low solubility/bioavailability, the effectiveness of TXF can be improved when the drug is combined with drug delivery systems (DDS). For this reason, the in situ incorporation of TXF in polymer particles produced through miniemulsion polymerizations is studied here. Reactions were performed through standard free radical (FR) and RAFT polymerizations, using methyl methacrylate (MMA) as monomer and 2,2'-azobisisobutironitrila (AIBN) as initiator. It is shown that TXF can be incorporated successfully into the final polymer particles through miniemulsion polymerizations and that the presence of TXF in the reaction medium does not affect significantly the reaction rates, the particle size distribution and the molar mass distribution of the final polymer, even when the monomer feed contains 10 wt% of drug. Therefore, it is shown that DDS containing TXF can be produced by in situ miniemulsion FR and RAFT MMA polymerizations.