Harshavardhan D. Joshi, Milind B. Katare, J.K. Pathan, Tanveer Hussain, M.P. Bhendarkar and Karan Kumar Ramteke
Abstract
The aim of present work was to develop a new Letrozole (LTZ)-loaded PLGA nanoparticles for effective delivery of the drug letrozole for musculinization of fish, as an alternative to commercially available masculinization agent. The LTZ-loaded PLGA NPs was prepared by solvent displacement technique. The particle size of LTZ-loaded PLGA NPs were found to be in the range of 72 nm to 520 nm with average size of 221.5±63.3 nm by using LICOMP particle size analyzer and zeta potential is about 21.35 mV using same same equipment with loading efficiency 43.63±4.63 % using spectrophotometry. In the present study, a series of experiments were carried out to induce masculinization using LTZ-loaded PLGA nanoparticles during the sex differentiation period. Swordtail Xiphophorus cortezi fry were treated with LTZ-loaded PLGA nanoparticles at dosages 5, 25, 50 and 100 mg/Kg diet for 10, 15 and 30 days. The results showed an increase in the proportion of males with dosage and duration of treatment.