Lactoferrin is a glycoprotein which is excreted by numerous glands in the body and can also be found in milk. Its widespread presence in the body shows its a great significance of for the organysm. Its protecting benefits range from antimicrobial to antivirus and anti-cancerous activity. This wide range of activities is enabled by the mechanisms of lactoferrin action that show its capability of binding Ferrum with the cell components of the host and pathogens.
Due to many positive benefits of lactofferin and with the purpose of lowering the environmental impact caused by the waste sour whey, we created a dietary supplement in the form of microspheres. For the creation of microspheres a method of dripping a solution of Natrium alginate with the assistance of peristaltic pump into a solution of Ca2+ ions was used. Microspheres of small sizes were made by an encapsulator Inotech IE-50R. Only a small amount of lactofferin is incorporated in alginate microspheres, therefore by using an absorption spectrophotometry we were searching for substances that would reduce lactoferrin leaking through the membranes of the microspheres. Retention of proteins was the highest when adding 10 % of lactose and reducing pH of a cross-linking solution.
To find out the optimal process parameters, we started planning the experiments and performed a 4-factor 2-level complete factor plan. Experiments varied according to the amount of alginate, lactoferrin and the pH level of a cross-linking CaCl2 solution. We studied the impact of each factor on the content of lactoferrin in microspheres.
The alternative way of developing formulation with lactoferrin was planned by the procedure of pellet coating. The pellets of microcrystalline cellulose were coated in a fluid bed pellet coater. Two coatings were applied on neutral pellet nuclei. In order to achieve the highest possible content of lactoferrin, the composition of each coating was changed. Our aim was to produce pellets with 200 mg of lactoferrin in one capsule and will have a gastro-resistant coating. For the evaluation of the pellets pharmacopeia methods for testing quality of dosage forms were used and the adequacy of the formulations was checked. The most optimal pellets were formed by coating with the formulation 1. The dissolution test of pellets was performed by the dissolution aparatuses II and III. The dissolution profile of releasing showed that only 80 % of lactoferrin had been released from the pellets. Possible reasons for lactoferrin instability are a local increase in pH with the addition of 0.2 M Na3PO4 or a rapid change in pH during neutralization of the medium. We have successfully developed formulations with both coatings, and showed that the coating method is more promising than microencapsulation.
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