Naringenin-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles: preparation, controlled delivery, cellular uptake, and pulmonary pharmacokinetics

Abstract

Naringenin (NRG), a flavonoid compound, had been reported to exhibit extensive pharmacological effects, but its water solubility and oral bioavailability are only~46±6 µg/mL and 5.8%, respectively. The purpose of this study is to design and develop NRG-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (NRG-SLNs) to provide prolonged and sustained drug release, with improved stability, involving nontoxic nanocarriers, and increase the bioavailability by means of pulmonary administration. Initially, a group contribution method was used to screen the best solid lipid matrix for the preparation of SLNs. NRG-SLNs were prepared by an emulsification and low-temperature solidification method and optimized using an orthogonal experiment approach. The morphology was examined by transmission electron microscopy, and the particle size and zeta potential were determined by photon correlation spectroscopy. The total drug content of NRG-SLNs was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography, and the encapsulation efficiency (EE) was determined by Sephadex gel-50 chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. The in vitro NRG release studies were carried out using a dialysis bag. The best cryoprotectant to prepare NRG-SLN lyophilized powder for future structural characterization was selected using differential scanning calorimetry, powder X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The short-term stability, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, cellular uptake, and pharmacokinetics in rats were studied after pulmonary administration of NRG-SLN lyophilized powder. Glycerol monostearate was selected to prepare SLNs, and the optimal formulation of NRG-SLNs was spherical in shape, with a particle size of 98 nm, a polydispersity index of 0.258, a zeta potential of −31.4 mV, a total drug content of 9.76 mg, an EE of 79.11%, and a cumulative drug release of 80% in 48 hours with a sustained profile. In addition, 5% mannitol (w/v) was screened as a cryoprotectant. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and powder X-ray diffraction studies confirmed that the drug was encapsulated into SLNs in an amorphous form. The lyophilized powder was stable at both refrigeration (4°C) and ambient temperature (25°C) for 3 months, and the MTT assay demonstrated that the SLNs were nontoxic. The cellular uptake of fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled SLNs in A549 cells was highly time dependent over a period of 3 hours, while the pharmacokinetic study in Sprague Dawley rats showed that the relative bioavailability of NRG-SLNs was 2.53-fold greater than that of NRG suspension after pulmonary administration. This study shows that SLNs offer a promising pulmonary delivery system to increase the bioavailability of the poorly water-soluble drug NRG.

Application of Solid Lipid Nanoparticles to Improve the Efficiency of Anticancer Drugs

“…All in all, there are many drugs that have been incorporated in SLNs with positive results [30,59,60,61,62,63,64], as well as tumors in which their action has been verified [58,63,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80]. These are the main supports for the advance in research on the use of SLNs in tumor treatments.…”

“…It has been observed that although this system did not reduce cell viability in A549 lung epithelial cells (probably due to the use of naringenin, which has not been reported to be effective against A549 cells), naringenin-SLN showed a good cellular uptake pattern. Regarding biodistribution studies in rats, the administration of naringenin with SLNs by intratracheal instillation ameliorated the pharmacokinetic parameters of the drug, including mean residence time or maximum plasma concentration [68].…”

Antiviral effect of phytochemicals from medicinal plants: Applications and drug delivery strategies

“…Zhang et al [94] aimed to improve the oral absorption of baicalin, which has low solubility and poor permeability, by using a micellar formulation comprised of the carriers Pluronic P123 copolymer and sodium taurocholate. Sustained release profile of baicalin-loaded mixed micelles, in in vitro drug release experiment, held in several pH conditions, showed 14% drug released after 2 h in gastric conditions and 54% release within 48 h in intestinal conditions, compared to 34% and 79% release [105], nanoparticles [106][107][108][109][110], phytosome [111], nanoliposome [112], mixed micelles [113,114], SNEDDS [115,116], nanocarrier [117,118], nanoemulsion [119], nanosuspension [ Mixed micelles [129,130], nanoparticles [131,132], solid dispersion [133,134] , SNEDDS [135] , SMEDDS [136], lipid carrier [137], copolymeric micelles [138], exosomes [139] Naringenin DENV, HCV SNEDDS [140], solid dispersion [141], nanoparticles [142,143] , liposome [144], nanosuspension [145,146] In vitro uptake studies, carried out with a caco-2 cell line, determined the absorption of baicalin within the mixed micelles and verified their internalization ability. Baicalin-loaded ST-P123-MMs formulation achieved high oral bioavailability (Fig.…”

Modified solid lipid nanoparticles encapsulated with Amphotericin B and Paromomycin: an effective oral combination against experimental murine visceral leishmaniasis

“…The cells were then fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde for 20 min followed by washing and then staining with DAPI for 3 min. Further, the cells were incubated with rhodamine-phalloidin for half an hour to stain the cell membrane 43 . Lastly, the fixed cells were washed and observed under a confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM, LSM 880 NLO, Carl Zeiss, Germany).…”