International Journal of
Advanced Multidisciplinary Application

Volume 3, Issue 3

• Author(s)Suresh Kumar Periasamy, Nithya Venkatesan
• Page No.74-76
• Volume, Issue & YearVolume 3, Issue 3, March 2026
• Published On2026/03/12
• JournalInternational Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Application (IJAMA)
• ISSN No.3048-9350
• DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19175084

Article Indexing

Abstract

Breast cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in women worldwide, accounting for approximately 2.3 million new cases and 685,000 deaths annually. Docetaxel, a potent taxane chemotherapy agent, is severely limited by dose-limiting toxicity and low tumour selectivity. Curcumin exerts complementary anti-cancer activity through NF-kB and STAT3 pathway inhibition but is essentially non-bioavailable orally due to rapid hepatic metabolism. This study synthesises and optimises folate-conjugated PLGA-PEG nanoparticles co-loaded with curcumin and docetaxel using Box-Behnken RSM. The optimised formulation (FO) exhibits particle size 187.4 +/- 9.3 nm, PDI 0.183, zeta potential -28.4 +/- 2.3 mV, curcumin EE 78.4%, and docetaxel EE 82.7%. Sustained biphasic release reaches 93.7% at 72h following Korsmeyer-Peppas anomalous diffusion kinetics. Folic acid functionalisation achieves 3.8-fold enhanced cellular uptake in MCF-7 cells. Cytotoxicity IC50 values of 0.38 ug/mL (MCF-7) and 0.47 ug/mL (MDA-MB-231) are 5.6-fold superior to free drug combination, with combination index (CI) 0.31-0.42 confirming strong synergism.
This work establishes folate-targeted PLGA-PEG co-delivery as a scientifically robust nanomedicine strategy for improving the therapeutic index of curcumin-docetaxel combination therapy in breast cancer

Keywords: PLGA-PEG nanoparticles, curcumin, docetaxel, breast cancer, folate receptor targeting, Box-Behnken RSM, encapsulation efficiency, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, synergism, combination index, nanomedicine, drug delivery

References

1. [1] Chou, T.C. (2010). Drug combination studies and synergy quantification using the Chou-Talalay method. Cancer Research, 70(2), 440-446.
2. [2] Danhier, F., Ansorena, E., Silva, J.M., et al. (2012). PLGA-based nanoparticles: An overview of biomedical applications. Journal of Controlled Release, 161(2), 505-522.
3. [3] Hrkach, J., Von Hoff, D., Mukkaram Ali, M., et al. (2012). Preclinical development and clinical translation of a PSMA-targeted docetaxel nanoparticle. Science Translational Medicine, 4(128), 128ra39.
4. [4] Maeda, H., Wu, J., Sawa, T., Matsumura, Y., & Hori, K. (2000). Tumor vascular permeability and the EPR effect. Journal of Controlled Release, 65(1-2), 271-284.
5. [5] Parveen, S., & Sahoo, S.K. (2010). Polymeric nanoparticles for cancer therapy. Journal of Drug Targeting, 16(2), 108-123.
6. [6] Sinha, R., Kim, G.J., Nie, S., & Shin, D.M. (2006). Nanotechnology in cancer therapeutics. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, 5(8), 1909-1917.
7. [7] Tomao, F., Papa, A., Rossi, L., et al. (2012). Docetaxel in breast cancer. Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy, 13(9), 1273-1284.
8. [8] Aggarwal, B.B., Kumar, A., & Bharti, A.C. (2003). Anticancer potential of curcumin. Anticancer Research, 23(1A), 363-398.
9. [9] Zhang, Y.S., & Bhatta, A. (2017). Curcumin-docetaxel co-loaded PLGA nanoparticles. Journal of Nanobiotechnology, 15(1), 1-14.
10. [10] Sundar, S., & Mishra, A.K. (2022). Recent advances in PLGA nanoparticle-based drug delivery. Drug Delivery and Translational Research, 12, 1-22.

Explore Our Related Journals

Looking for the right journal for your next manuscript? Explore our international peer-reviewed journals covering engineering, management, computer science, artificial intelligence and multidisciplinary research.