Poor solubility of drugs under development presents an important limitation in their clinical use. A novel solution are nano-drug delivery systems (NDDSs) that are absorbed along with the active ingredient, which enables distribution control, drug protection or even targeted therapy. This work presents the incorporation of a lipophilic model drug A into three different lipid-based NDDSs, liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs), and their evaluation with the aim of increasing the drug’s efficacy.
Liposomes made of HSPC, PEG2000-DSPE and cholesterol were prepared with the thin film method and then sonicated for size reduction to 100 nm. Model drug A was incorporated with up to a 30% encapsulation efficiency but was unstable either for physical or chemical reasons. Its content in the liposomes decreased in 24 h and was reduced to zero after a few days.
Solid lipid nanoparticles were prepared from HSPC and Compritol 888 ATO, but were unable to incorporate drug A. Therefore, NLCs were designed by adding a liquid lipid. The preparation method and NLC composition were further optimised, where variations of (i) ratio solid lipid:phospholipid, (ii) liquid lipid mass fraction, (iii) solid lipid type, (iv) addition of a steric stabilizer and (v) lipid mass fraction in the dispersion of water were studied. A successful formulation was developed including solid lipid Compritol 888 ATO, liquid lipid Captex 200, phospholipid and stabilizer PEG2000-DSPE and model drug A. NLC produced by homogenisation with high repeatability had a mean diameter of 211,3 nm and incorporated model drug A with a 85,6% encapsulation efficiency and 2,13% drug loading. They were evaluated with differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and visually assessed with scanning electron microscopy. In addition, an attempt to increase NLC stability was made through inclusion of antioxidants, stabilizers combination and lyophilization, however, unsuccessfully.
This master thesis presents a successful incorporation of model drug A into NLC and points at the necessity to further improve the stability of the formulation in the future.
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