Disulfiram-loaded mixed nanoparticles with high drug-loading and plasma stability by reducing the core crystallinity for intravenous delivery

Abstract To develop an injectable formulation and improve the stability of disulfiram (DSF), DSF was encapsulated into mixed nanoparticles (DSF-NPs) through a high-pressure homogenization method. The Flory-Huggins interaction parameters (χ FH ) were calculated to predict the miscibility between DSF and the hydrophobic core, resulting in PCL 5000 selected as the hydrophobic block to encapsulate the DSF, as PCL 5000 had a lower χ FH 3.39 and the drug loading of the nanoparticles prepared by mPEG 5000 -PCL 5000 was relatively higher. mPEG 5000 -PCL 5000 and PCL 5000 were blended to reduce the leakage of DSF during preparation, as well as increase the stability of the nanoparticles. The cargo-loading capacity of the nanoparticles was improved from 3.35% to 5.50% by reducing the crystallinity of the PCL nanoparticle core, and the crystallinity decreased from 51.13% to 25.15% after adding medium chain triglyceride (MCT). The DSF-NPs prepared by the above method had a small particle size of 98.1 ± 10.54 nm, with a polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.036, as well as drug loading of 5.50%. Furthermore, DSF-NPs containing MCT showed higher stability than DSF-NPs without MCT and DSF-sol (DSF dissolved in Cremophor EL and ethanol) in water and 90% plasma-containing PBS. The pharmacokinetics proved that DSF-NPs containing MCT enhanced the DSF concentration in the blood. Finally, DSF-NPs effectively inhibited H22 xenograft tumor growth in vivo.