Multidrug resistance (MDR) in
tumor cells is a significant obstacle to the success of
chemotherapy in many
cancers. The purpose of this research is to test the possibility of
docetaxel-loaded poly (ε-
caprolactone)/
Pluronic F68 (PCL/
Pluronic F68) nanoparticles to overcome MDR in
docetaxel-resistance human
breast cancer cell line.
Docetaxel-loaded nanoparticles were prepared by modified
solvent displacement method using commercial PCL and self-synthesized PCL/
Pluronic F68, respectively. PCL/
Pluronic F68 nanoparticles were found to be of spherical shape with a rough and porous surface. The nanoparticles had an average size of around 200 nm with a narrow size distribution. The in vitro drug release profile of both nanoparticle formulations showed a biphasic release pattern. There was an increased level of uptake of PCL/
Pluronic F68 nanoparticles in
docetaxel-resistance human
breast cancer cell line, MCF-7 TAX30, when compared with PCL nanoparticles. The cytotoxicity of PCL nanoparticles was higher than commercial Taxotere®in the MCF-7 TAX30 cell culture, but the differences were not significant (p > 0.05). However, the PCL/
Pluronic F68 nanoparticles achieved significantly higher level of cytotoxicity than both of PCL nanoparticles and Taxotere®(p < 0.05), indicating
docetaxel-loaded PCL/
Pluronic F68 nanoparticles could overcome multidrug resistance in human
breast cancer cells and therefore have considerable potential for treatment of
breast cancer.