Evaluation of Alginate/Chitosan nanoparticles as antisense delivery vector: Formulation, optimization and in vitro characterization

Nanoparticles comprising Alginate/Chitosan polymers were prepared by pregel preparation method through drop wise addition of various concentrations of CaCl2 to a defined concentration of Sodium Algi- nate. Then, Chitosan/Antisense solution with a certain N/P ratio was added to the pregel to make the nanoparticles. The effect of such parameters as polymer ratio, CaCl2/Alginate ratio and N/P ratio on the particle size distribution and loading efficacy was studied. The optimum conditions were 1:1 (w/w) Algi- nate to Chitosan ratio, 0.2% CaCl2/Alginate ratio and N/P ratio of 5 at pH 5.3. The resulting nanoparticles had a loading efficacy of 95.6% and average size of 194 nm as confirmed by PCS method and SEM images showed spherical and smooth particles. The zeta potential of optimized nanoparticles prepared by this method was about +30 mV which could result in good stability of nanoparticles during manipulation and storage.