Abstract

Purpose The main purpose of this study was to develop etoposide (ETP) and paclitaxel (PTX) co-loaded methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (mPEG-PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) with optimized size to achieve co-delivery of ETP and PTX. In addition, the effect of defined parameters including the amount of aqueous to organic phase, the amount of mPEG-PLGA, tween 80 concentration, and PTX to ETP ratio on the size of ETP and PTX co-loaded mPEG-PLGA NPs was investigated. Methods ETP and PTX co-loaded mPEG-PLGA NPs were prepared by nanoprecipitation technique to avoid the therapeutic limitations. Results The resultant NPs were spherical with the mean size about 150 nm, − 22.2 mV zeta potentialand high loading efficiency (92.5 ± 4.8% for PTX and 86 ± 3.7% for ETP). Besides, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses confirmed that the drugs were successfully dispersed as an amorphous phase in the NP matrix without any change in the chemical structures. The NPs exhibited a sustained release profiles to both drugs for 6 days. Conclusion ETP and PTX co-loaded mPEG-PLGA NPs were optimized using ANN and confirmed optimum physicochemical properties that such NPs could be suggested as a promising method for the enhanced chemotherapy.