Preparation and Characterization of (−)-Epigallocatechin Gallate Lipid Based Nanoparticles for Enhancing Availability and Physical Properties

Abstract

(−)-Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the most abundant and biologically active polyphenol found in green tea. (−)-Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is highly potent antioxidant therefore, it has great therapeutic effect against cancer disease. Furthermore, it has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effect. but it has some limitations, such as the poor permeability, the highly affinity to intestinal P-glycoprotein efflux mechanism and short half-life. Therefore, it has very low oral bioavailability. In current study, Precirol ® ATO 5 (P), glyceryl monostearate (GMS) and Compritol ® 888 ATO (C) were selected as solid lipids and miglyol (M) and sesame oil (SO) as liquid lipids, to develop EGCG-NLC (nanostructured lipid carrier) and EGCG-SLN (solid lipid nanoparticles). EGCG was successfully encapsulated into lipid nanoparticles to improve its bioavailability. EGCG-NLC and EGCG-SLN were formulated using a hot homogenization-ultrasonication technique, and the physicochemical properties were characterized. The developed EGCG-NLCs and EGCG-SLNs showed small and homogeneous particle size approximately (308 and 379 nm) with entrapment efficiency around (76 and 49%), respectively. Also, the resulted formulation EGCG-NLC3 appeared under transmission electron microscope in almost spherical shape.