Effects of external phase on D-cycloserine loaded W/O nanocapsules prepared by the interfacial polymerization method

Water in oil (W/O) polybutylcyanoacrylate nanocapsules containing D-cycloserine (D-CS) for intranasal delivery were prepared by the interfacial polymerization method. Different oils, as external phase, for the preparation of the initial W/O miniemulsions were used and their effect on mean size and other physico-chemical properties were evaluated by photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. Two probes at different hydrophilicity were used to verify the internal aqueous nature of the core. Both miniemulsions and nanocapsules mean size and polydispersity index were influenced by the used external phase. Different entrapment efficiency were obtained for D-cycloserine-loaded nanocapsules correlated to the used oil [ranging from 39 to 51% encapsulation efficiency (E.E.)]. In vitro drug release showed an initial burst effect (ranging from 20 to 40%) followed by a slow release of D-CS for all preparations. This study demonstrated that many relevant physico-chemical and technological properties of polybutylcyanoacrylate nanocapsules prepared by interfacial polymerization of miniemulsions are significantly influenced by the external oil phase used.