Synthesis of polydopamine as a new and biocompatible coating of magnetic nanoparticles for delivery of doxorubicin in mouse breast adenocarcinoma.

PURPOSE: Carrier-mediated drug delivery systems can be used to increase the intracellular concentration of drugs in cancerous cells, thereby improving drug biodistribution and minimizing unwanted side effects. This study aimed to investigate the effect of synthesized magnetic molecularly imprinted polydopamine for controlled doxorubicin (DOX) delivery in a breast adenocarcinoma model of BALB/c mice with an external magnetic field.

METHODS: The synthesized DOX-imprinted polydopamine (DOX-IP) was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The efficacy of DOX-IP in tumor growth suppression was assessed in terms of tumor growth delay, tumor doubling time, inhibition ratio, and histopathology. High-performance liquid chromatography and flame atomic absorption spectrometry were performed to investigate the drug distribution among tissues.

RESULTS: The findings showed higher efficacy of DOX-IP with magnetic field in suppressing tumor growth than free DOX and DOX-IP without magnetic field. Significantly high DOX concentration in tumor tissue was found in the DOX-IP group with magnetic field.

CONCLUSION: Magnetic DOX-IP demonstrates effective tumor-targeted drug delivery in a mouse model of breast cancer.