Abstract

In this study, bovine serum albumin-paclitaxel nanoparticles were prepared by high-pressure homogenization method with halogenated salt as coagulant. The effect of process parameters such as bovine serum albumin concentration, coagulant concentration, homogenisation time, homogenisation pressure, water/ethanol ratio and bovine serum albumin-paclitaxel ratio was analyzed to optimize nanoparticle size, bovine serum albumin conversion rate and encapsulation efficiency. Bovine serum albumin concentration and homogenisation pressure were found to exert a great influence on bovine serum albumin conversion rate and particle size. Meanwhile, the bovine serum albumin-paclitaxel ratio significantly affected the nanoparticle encapsulation efficiency. Electron microscopy showed that the freeze-dried particles mostly existed in the form of dimers and trimers with an average particle size of 300-400 nm. Infrared spectroscopy indicated that paclitaxel was well encapsulated in bovine serum albumin. Raman spectra of the synthesized nanoparticles indicated changes in the disulphide bond configuration and protein structure. In addition, the effect of different crosslinking agents (genipin, vanillin and glutaraldehyde) on drug release from the nanoparticles in in vitro conditions was investigated. The study confirmed vanillin had better sustained release effect. These results suggest that high-pressure homogenization method with halogenated salts as coagulant is an effective method to prepare drug-delivery systems with albumin as a carrier.