Studies on the characteristics of drug-loaded gelatin nanoparticles prepared by nanoprecipitation

Abstract

The morphology of gelatin nanoparticles loaded with three different drugs (Tizanidine hydrochloride, Gatifloxacin and Fluconazole) and their characteristics of entrapment and release from gelatin nanoparticles were investigated by the analysis on nanoparticle size distribution, SEM and FT-IR in this study. The particles were prepared by nanoprecipitation using water and ethanol as a solvent and a nonsolvent, respectively. The exclusion of a crosslinking agent from the procedure led the system to have an irregularly-shaped morphology. Nonetheless, the uncrosslinked case of Gatifloxacin loading generally led to a more homogeneous population of nanoparticles than the uncrosslinked case of Tizanidine hydrochloride loading. No loading was achieved in the case of Fluconazole, whereas both Tizanidine hydrochloride and Gatifloxacin are observed of being capable of being loaded by nanoprecipitation. Tizanidine hydrochloride-loaded, blank and Gatifloxacin-loaded nanoparticles yielded, under crosslinked condition, 59.3, 23.1 and 10.6% of the used dried mass. The crosslinked Tizanidine hydrochloride-loaded particles showed the loading efficiency of 13.8%, which was decreased to 1.1% without crosslinking. A crosslinker such as glutaraldehyde is indispensable to enhance the Tizanidine hydrochloride-loading efficiency. To the contrary, the Gatifloxacin-loading efficiency for crosslinked ones was lower by a factor of 2-3 times than that for uncrosslinked ones. This is due to the carboxylic groups of Gatifloxacin and the aldehyde groups of glutaraldehyde competing with each other during the crosslinking process, to react with the amino groups of gelatin molecules. The loading efficiency of gelatin nanoparticles reported by other investigators greatly varies. Nevertheless, the loading efficiency reported by us is in good agreement with the drug-loading data of gelatin nanoparticles reported by other investigators. The 80% of loaded Tizanidine hydrochloride was released around 15 h after start-up of the release experiment, while the 20% of loaded Gatifloxacin was released more rapidly, as free Gatifloxacin, than the loaded Tizanidine hydrochloride and it showed the trend of sustained slow release during the remaining period of its release experiment. Furthermore, the result of comparative FT-IR analysis is consistent to that of the corresponding drug release study.

Eco-friendly Electrospun Polymeric Nanofibers-Based Nanocomposites for Wound Healing and Tissue Engineering

“…Due to its high hydrophilicity, gelatin has the ability to enhance both cell proliferation and fluid diffusion within the fabricated scaffold (Lee et al 2012;Sundar et al 2010). Gelatin has been used as a cell proliferation enhancing material in numerous nanofibrous systems (Jafari et al 2011;Li et al 2006;Zhuang et al 2010).…”

Gelatin carriers for drug and cell delivery in tissue engineering

“…In light of its tremendous potential for controlled release, gelatin has been extensively investigated as a delivery vehicle for many classes of drugs, including but not limited to antibacterial agents [25, 26], anti-inflammatory drugs [27, 28], and many different antineoplastic compounds [17, 19, 29, 30]. Regardless of the specific application, gelatin carriers demonstrate reduced side effects when compared to the administration of the free compound, with improved pharmacokinetic profile and drug efficacy [9].…”

Porous magnesium loaded with gentamicin sulphate and in vitro release behavior

“…The average of three measurements was taken as the reported value. [32,33]. The pores formed after gelatin degraded can provide channels for bone cell growth, which is beneficial to the prosthesis fixation [29,30].…”