Development and Characterization of Soy Lecithin Liposome as Potential Drug Carrier Systems for Doxorubicin

Abstract Purpose The phospholipids from plant origins play an important role in different techniques, especially in drug delivery applications. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of liposomes prepared from plant origin as a cheap source of lipids as drug carriers. Methods Soy lecithin liposomes (SLP) were prepared and loaded with doxorubicin (DOX) to use as a drug delivery system. DOX was used as the model drug and DOX/SLP was successfully combined. The characteristics of these liposomes, zeta potential, size distribution, drug encapsulation efficiency (EE%), drug release, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were checked followed by in vitro study. The cytotoxicity study by using free DOX and DOX/SLP is done on Mcf-7, human breast cancer as a cell line. Results The optimal DOX/SLP formulation had a mean size of 342 nm, a negative zeta potential of −22.3 mV, the loaded DOX/SLP showed EE% (83.68%), and a drug release profile of 35 h, all are recorded. Cytotoxicity assay showed that the IC 50 of DOX/SLP is smaller than that of free DOX. Conclusion These results give evidence of the efficacy of using drug carriers from plant origin combined with drugs to increase the effective therapies against cancer medically and economically. Graphical Abstract