Polymers 2011, 3(3), 1107-1125; doi:10.3390/polym3031107
Article

In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of a Folate-Targeted Copolymeric Submicrohydrogel Based on N-Isopropylacrylamide as 5-Fluorouracil Delivery System

M. Dolores Blanco 1,* email, Sandra Guerrero 1 email, Marta Benito 1 email, Ana Fernández 1 email, César Teijón 2 email, Rosa Olmo 1 email, Issa Katime 3 email and José M. Teijón 1 email
1 Polymeric Materials Group for the Controlled Release of Bioactive Compounds in Biomedicine, Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040, Madrid, Spain 2 Polymeric Materials Group for the Controlled Release of Bioactive Compounds in Biomedicine, Escuela Universitaria de Enfermería, Fisioterapia y Podología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040, Madrid, Spain 3 Group of New Materials and Supramolecular Spectroscopy, Departamento de Química Física, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco, Leioa, Spain
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 11 June 2011 / Accepted: 15 July 2011 / Published: 18 July 2011
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Nanogels and Microgels)
PDF Full-text Download PDF Full-Text [387 KB, uploaded 18 July 2011 15:23 CEST]
Abstract: Folate-targeted poly[(p-nitrophenyl acrylate)-co-(N-isopropylacrylamide)] nanohydrogel (F-SubMG) was loaded with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) to obtain low (16.3 ± 1.9 μg 5-FU/mg F-SubMG) and high (46.8 ± 3.8 μg 5-FU/mg F-SubMG) load 5-FU-loaded F-SubMGs. The complete in vitro drug release took place in 8 h. The cytotoxicity of unloaded F-SubMGs in MCF7 and HeLa cells was low; although it increased for high F-SubMG concentration. The administration of 10 μM 5-FU by 5-FU-loaded F-SubMGs was effective on both cellular types. Cell uptake of F-SubMGs took place in both cell types, but it was higher in HeLa cells because they are folate receptor positive. After subcutaneous administration (28 mg 5-FU/kg b.w.) in Wistar rats, F-SubMGs were detected at the site of injection under the skin. Histological studies indicated that the F-SubMGs were surrounded by connective tissue, without any signs of rejections, even 60 days after injection. Pharmacokinetic study showed an increase in MRT (mean residence time) of 5-FU when the drug was administered by drug-loaded F-SubMGs.
Keywords: drug delivery; folate-conjugate nanogel; 5-fluorouracil; culture cells; pharmacokinetic

Article Statistics

Click here to load and display the download statistics.

Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Blanco, M.D.; Guerrero, S.; Benito, M.; Fernández, A.; Teijón, C.; Olmo, R.; Katime, I.; Teijón, J.M. In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of a Folate-Targeted Copolymeric Submicrohydrogel Based on N-Isopropylacrylamide as 5-Fluorouracil Delivery System. Polymers 2011, 3, 1107-1125.

AMA Style

Blanco MD, Guerrero S, Benito M, Fernández A, Teijón C, Olmo R, Katime I, Teijón JM. In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of a Folate-Targeted Copolymeric Submicrohydrogel Based on N-Isopropylacrylamide as 5-Fluorouracil Delivery System. Polymers. 2011; 3(3):1107-1125.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Blanco, M. Dolores; Guerrero, Sandra; Benito, Marta; Fernández, Ana; Teijón, César; Olmo, Rosa; Katime, Issa; Teijón, José M. 2011. "In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of a Folate-Targeted Copolymeric Submicrohydrogel Based on N-Isopropylacrylamide as 5-Fluorouracil Delivery System." Polymers 3, no. 3: 1107-1125.

Polymers EISSN 2073-4360 Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert