Poly(Propylene Sulfide)-B-Polycaprolactone Micelles for Naproxen Delivery: A Multimodal Therapeutic Approach

Abstract

The aim of this study is low water solubility and poor oral bioavailability, naproxen (NAP) has limited application despite having antibacterial and anticancer characteristics. This study assessed the bioactivity of NAP by means of poly (propylene sulfide)-block-polycaprolactone (PPS-b-PCL; PSCL) micelles. The NAP-loaded PSCL micelles formulations were prepared by a modified single-step desolation technique characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, and TEM. NAP loaded-PSCL micelles demonstrated a polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.058 ± 0.01, and a moderately negative zeta potential of –17.1 ± 0.3 mV. The significant entrapment efficiency (83.8 ± 1.8%), high drug-loading at 14.89 ± 0.08%, and yields of production (53.2 ± 1.9%) were obtained by UV-visible measurement. Under physiological conditions, NAP was released from NPCL micelles more slowly; however, under acidic or enzymatic conditions, NAP was released from the micelles more quickly. The antibacterial experiment results in vitro demonstrated that the NAP loaded-PSCL micelles could effectively kill bacteria with the inhibitive rate reached to 82% for S. aureus and 97% for E. coli. The biofilm structure was disrupted, and the biofilm formation of PSCL micelles was greatly reduced in the presence of NAP as examined by SEM. cell culture studies revealed that NAP-loaded PSCL micelles significantly reduced cytotoxicity compared to the free NAP solution.

Keywords: Naproxen, polymer, Micelles, Antimicrobial, Anticancer