Table 3 Half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) and combination index (CI) values for different docetaxel (DTX)- or curcumin (CUR)-loaded formulations against MCF7 and MCF7/ADR cell lines

MCF7

DTX-Sol

1,000.5 ± 68.5

n/a

n/a

DTX-pNLC

650.3 ± 79.5

n/a

n/a

DTX-P/R-NLC

134.1 ± 8.1

n/a

n/a

CUR-Sol

n/a

29,884.5 ± 2,336.6

n/a

CUR-pNLC

n/a

12,008.5 ± 1,071.8

n/a

CUR-P/R-NLC

n/a

5,361.0 ± 386.8

n/a

DTX-Sol + CUR-Sol

876.9 ± 204.8

2,631.0 ± 614.8

0.964

DTX-P/R-NLC + CUR-P/R-NLC

59.8 ± 12.3

179.4 ± 37.0

0.479

MCF7/ADR

DTX-Sol

6,166.8 ± 325.7

n/a

n/a

DTX-pNLC

5,422.3 ± 564.6

n/a

n/a

DTX-P/R-NLC

1,704.8 ± 141.4

n/a

n/a

CUR-Sol

n/a

29,954.3 ± 3,781.2

n/a

CUR-pNLC

n/a

11,840.5 ± 206.6

n/a

CUR-P/R-NLC

n/a

5,569.8 ± 344.1

n/a

DTX-Sol + CUR-Sol

3,325.3 ± 778.1

9,976 ± 2,333.6

0.822

DTX-P/R-NLC + CUR-P/R-NLC

347.6 ± 73.3

1,042.8 ± 220.1

0.389