Amphiphilic nanoparticles based on poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) and stearoyl modified chitosan as drug vehicles for paclitaxel delivery

Poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) and stearoyl chloride (SC) double-grafted chitosan (PCS) nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared for paclitaxel (PTX) delivery. PTX could be effectively loaded into PCS NPs with encapsulation efficiency of 92.8%. PTX-loaded PCS NPs (PTX/PCS NPs), which possessed particle sizes of 144   nm and Zeta potentials of −7.5   mV, exhibited a sustained release behavior. In H-22 tumor bearing mice, significantly enhanced antitumor efficacies were achieved by PTX/PCS NPs with the tumor inhibition ratio (TIR) of 76.1% as compared with PTX injection. Furthermore, no signs of sub-acute toxicity were detected in healthy mice, indicating the safety of PCS NPs. Therefore, PCS NPs could be served as an effective and safe carrier for PTX delivery.