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Updated: May 28, 2026
PLGA Nanoparticles Formed by Single- or Double-emulsion with Vitamin E-TPGS
Published on: December 27, 2013
Mixture designs in the optimisation of PLGA nanoparticles: influence of organic phase composition on β-aescin
H Van de Ven1, J Vandervoort, W Weyenberg
1Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerpen, Belgium. helene.vandeven@ua.ac.be
Abstract:
The objective of this study was to enhance the encapsulation of the antileishmanial saponin aescin in poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs). We prepared the NPs by the O/W and W/O/W combined emulsification solvent evaporation/salting-out technique and investigated the influence of organic phase composition on the NPs' size, zeta potential and entrapment efficiency (EE%) using mixture designs. The obtained NPs were monodispersed with Z(ave)<300 nm and exhibited negative zeta potentials. For the single emulsion, the co-solvent concentration was shown to be the primary determinant of drug entrapment. The EE% increased from 14% to 22% by decreasing the amount of DMSO from 80% to 25% (v/v) in the organic polymer solution. For the double emulsion, EE% was 22% on average and independent of the organic phase composition. The double-emulsion technique did not enhance the aescin encapsulation as expected due to its amphiphilic nature. The optimised aescin-loaded NPs meet the requirements for further in vitro activity tests.
