Dendrimer-mediated delivery of bioactive is a successful and widely explored concept. This paper desribes comparative data pertaining to generation dependent
cancer targeting propensity of
Poly(propyleneimine) (PPI)
dendrimers. This debut report reportsthe drug targeting and antciancer potential of different
dendrimer generations. PPI
dendrimers of different generations (3.0G, 4.0G and 5.0G) were synthesized and loaded with
Melphalan. Results from loading,
hemolysis, hematologic, cytotoxicty and flow cytometry assay depicted that as the generation of
dendrimer increased from fourth to fifth, the only parameter i.e. toxicty is increased exponentionally. However, others parameters, i.e. loading, sustained release behavior, and targeting efficacy increased negligibly. Kaplan-Meier survival curves clearly depicted comparable therapeutic potential of PPI4M with PPI5M. In vivo investigations in Balb/c mice again favored 4.0G PPI
dendrimer to be preferable nanocarrier for anticancer
drug delivery owing to analogous anticancer potential. The outcomes of the investigation evidently projects 4.0G PPI
dendrimer over 3.0G and 5.0G
dendrimer in respect of its
drug delivery benefit as well as superior biocompatibility. Thus, much against the common belief, 4.0G PPI
dendrimers may be considered to be optimum in respect of
drug delivery precluding the use of much more toxic 5.0G PPI
dendrimer, which offers no benefit over 4.0G.