Physicochemical and structural properties of glycerin gel prepared using glycyrrhizic acid diethyl ester

Glycyrrhizic acid diethyl ester (GZ-DE) was developed as a prodrug of glycyrrhizic acid (GZ), a hepatitis therapeutic drug. We fortuitously found that GZ-DE gels with glycerin selectively while searching for a safe solvent with which to dissolve GZ-DE. Based on this gelation, the aim of this study was to investigate the preparation of the gel and study the rheology, physicochemical and structural properties of the glycerin gel by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), capillary electrophoresis (CEP), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The glycerin gel was prepared by the addition of at least 2.0% w/w GZ-DE. This gel did not flow at room temperature. After mixing glycerin and GZ-DE, a gel was formed after 2 days at 25°C or 3 h at 60°C. Glycerin gel containing 2.4% w/w GZ-DE provided the following results: 1) The glycerin gel exhibited creep at a constant stress of less than 10 Pa, but it is a fragile gel, showing Newtonian flow at 10 Pa stress. 2) Dynamic viscoelastic measurements showed that the elastic modulus (G') exceeds the viscous modulus (G''), indicating that glycerin gel has solid-like properties. 3) DSC showed a significant difference between the glass transition temperature of glycerin and glycerin gel. 4) CEP did not reveal a new compound in the glycerin gel. 5) NMR confirmed that glycerin gel is a physical gel. 6) SAXS measurements revealed that the glycerin gel has an oval-shaped basic frame (119 nm long and 65 nm wide).