Stabilizers influence drug–polymer interactions and physicochemical properties of disulfiram-loaded poly-lactide-co-glycolide nanoparticles

AIM: Stabilizers are known to be an integral component of polymeric nanostructures. Ideally, they manipulate physicochemical properties of nanoparticles. Based on this hypothesis, we demonstrated that disulfiram (drug) and Poly-lactide-co-glycolide (polymer) interactions and physicochemical properties of their nanoparticles formulations are significantly influenced by the choice of stabilizers. METHODOLOGY: Electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, x-ray diffraction, Raman spectrum analysis, isothermal titration calorimetry and in silico docking studies were performed. RESULTS & DISCUSSION: Polysorbate 80 imparted highest crystallinity while Triton-X 100 imparted highest rigidity, possibly influencing drug bioavailability, blood-retention time, cellular uptake and sustained drug release. All the molecular interactions were hydrophobic in nature and entropy driven. Therefore, polymeric nanoparticles may be critically manipulated to streamline the passive targeting of drug-loaded nanoparticles.