Paroxetine loaded PLGA nanoparticles

Paroxetine (Par) is an antidepressant (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) used for the treatment of depression and anxiety related problems, but due to its degradation in first pass metabolism it suffers from the problem of poor oral bioavailability (less than 50%). The present study focuses on developing a paroxetine loaded PLGA (Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles (NPs) for effective delivery. The nanoparticles were developed by nanoprecipitation method and the mean particle size of the Par-PLGA-NPs was found to be 184.20 ± 1.1 nm with polydispersity index of 0.187 and zeta potential was observed to be in the range of −25.6 ± 0.43 mV. Entrapment efficiency (EE %) of formulated Par-PLGA-NPs was 86.03% with drug loading of 14.06%. In vitro, cytotoxicity was evaluated using MTT assay and result indicated that cells were more viable i.e. 93.30% when treated with Par-PLGA-NPs as compared to cells treated with Par aqueous solution. Thus, it can be concluded that the developed Par-PLGA-NPs provide a possible substitute for existing drug formulation of paroxetine.