Design, development, and evaluation of magnetic nanoparticles and docetaxel-loaded nanosystem for brain targeting.

The study aimed to investigate superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) as carriers for brain-targeted delivery of the anticancer drug docetaxel (DTX). The use of an externally positioned magnet was explored to achieve targeted delivery to specific regions of interest, enhancing SPIONs' accumulation and retention within the brain. SPIONs were synthesized using the co-precipitation method. Docetaxel-loaded SPION-PLGA nanoparticles (G-SPIO/DTX-PLGA-NPs) were subsequently prepared using a solvent evaporation process and further coated with glutathione (GSH) to enhance brain targeting in male Wistar rats. The G-SPIO/DTX-PLGA-NPs demonstrated a particle size of 190 ± 5.11 nm and a zeta potential of -27.6 ± 0.36 mV. Drug release studies indicated an initial burst release of 15.03 ± 2.33% at 1 h and a sustained release of 78.78 ± 3.50% at 96 h. Cytotoxicity studies revealed significantly higher cell death (84.71%) with the G-SPIO/DTX-PLGA-NPs compared to DTX alone (72.29%), with a 3.39-fold (p < 0.001) reduction in IC50 values. In vivo biodistribution analysis showed that magnetically guided G-SPIO/DTX-PLGA-NPs achieved brain tissue concentrations 21.94 times (p < 0.05) higher than free DTX and 1.46 times higher than non-magnetically guided G-SPIO/DTX-PLGA-NPs. The study established G-SPIO/DTX-PLGA-NPs as effective SPION-based carriers for targeted docetaxel delivery to the brain.