Production of Nanostructured Lipids Carriers using monoglycerides oleogels

Abstract

Vegetable oils structured by the action of organogelators are suitable systems for the encapsulation and delivery of hydrophobic bioactive molecules, as well as for controlled release purposes into the bloodstream. These systems can be utilized for oral administration formulations by dispersing them in an aqueous phase. Thus, emulsions of gelled-oil nanoparticles are proposed as new delivery carriers of lipophilic bioactive compound with sustained release.The aim of this work was to develop a synthesis process of Nanostructured Lipids Carriers (NLCs) using monoglycerides oleogels as lipid phase and curcuminoids as bioactive compound. To this purpose, molten oleogels were prepared using 10% wt of monoglycerides and olive oil, adding the curcuminoids maximum concentration that allows its solubilization. Emulsions were produced using high-speed homogenization followed by ultrasonication. The effect of surfactant type (Pluronic F-68 (P68), Tween 80 (Tw80), or 50:50 P68:Tw80) in the aqueous phase, ratio lipid phase/aqueous phase (5/95, 10/90, or 15/85), and the water bath temperature during sonication (85, 55, 25, or 1°C) was evaluated on particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), and stability during storage. The lowest particle size and PDI were obtained by applied sonication at 85°C, followed by fast cooling at 1°C. Furthermore, it was found that emulsions prepared using a mixture of 50:50 P68:Tw80 in the aqueous phase resulted more stables on time than those containing pure surfactants. Under the optimal conditions, the average value of particle size and PDI in the period of 21 days was 155 nm and 0.198, 213 nm and 0.292, and 255 nm and 0.296 for ratios lipid phase/ aqueous phase of 5/95, 10/90, and 15/85 respectively. The drug loading capacity of emulsions was about 0.42%. Based on these positive results a more detail study can be carried out in order to include other relevant aspects of NLCs production.