Determination of preparation parameters for albendazole-loaded nanoparticles using chitosan and tripolyphosphate

Albendazole is poorly soluble in water and has low bioavailability. The objective of this study was to improve the solubility of albendazole and optimize preparation of an oral nanoparticle formulation, using chitosan-tripolyphosphate (TPP) nanoparticles. The formulation was prepared by mixing the drug solution in Tween 20 with the chitosan solution. TPP solution was added drop wise with sonication to produce a nanoparticle through ionic crosslinking. The dispersion method and TPP loading devices were varied to prepare desirable-sized nanoparticles and subsequently examine drug solubility, nanoparticle size and cytotoxicity. Cytotoxicity of each vehicle was measured by MTT assay. The particle size of blank nanoparticles was 370 nm with a 0.171 polydispersity index when the volume ratio of TPP to chitosan was 1:5. Addition of Tween 20 to solubilize albendazole increased particle size and polydispersity index to 470 nm and 0.251, respectively. The optimized preparation conditions were water bath sonication for 30 min and TPP loading using yellow pipette tips, which produced a small particle size of 235 nm and a polydispersity index of 0.367. Filtration reduced particle size, but increased the polydispersity index. The albendazole-loaded nanoparticles showed higher cytotoxicity than albendazole suspension, even though the chitosan-TPP nanoparticle formulation was itself not toxic. The chitosan-TPP nanoparticles increased the drug solubility and have the potential to deliver albendazole as an anti-cancer agent.