A quality-by-design approach to develop abemaciclib solid lipid nanoparticles for targeting breast cancer cell lines.

Aim: Abemaciclib (ABE) is an anticancer drug that suffers from low bioavailability and multidrug resistance. This study aims to develop ABE-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (ABE-SLNs), which will enhance drug solubility and lead to increased cellular uptake and enhanced cytotoxicity when delivering tumor cells.
Methods: Melt emulsification followed by ultrasonication was used as a method of preparation and Quality-by-Design (QbD) was utilized to optimize ABE-SLNs.
Results: The optimized ABE-SLNs consist of Precirol-ATO5 as a lipid and Brij-58 as a surfactant. The particle size, PDI value, and zeta potential of the optimized formulation were 170.4 ± 0.49 nm, 0.25 ± 0.014, and -26.4 ± 0.1 mV, respectively. It also showed sustained release behavior and a high entrapment efficiency of 79.96%. ABE-SLNs exhibited enhanced anticancer activity in the MDA-MB-231 and T47D breast cancer cell lines compared to pure ABE. In Caco-2 human colonic cell lines, ABE-SLNs also showed increased cellular uptake.
Conclusion: The use of QbD to achieve high entrapment efficiency and sustained release in ABE-SLNs, coupled with enhanced cellular uptake and cytotoxicity, represents a novel approach that could set a new standard for nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems.