Improving the physicochemical properties of bicalutamide by complex formation with bovine serum albumin

Bicalutamide-bovine serum albumin (Bic-BSA) complexes were prepared by anti-solvent precipitation. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as a stabilizer for particle growth. The physicochemical properties of Bic-BSA were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. The interaction between Bic and BSA was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular docking. The particle size could be easily reduced to 1-10μm with a good lognormal distribution. The Bic-BSA complexes exhibited nonporous spherical morphology with a uniformly plicated surface. Moreover, the crystal form and thermostability of Bic were altered in the presence of BSA. Bic was found to make hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions with BSA by spectroscopic studies and molecular docking. Results from the Van't Hoff equation and binding free energy calculations indicated that the improvement of physicochemical properties was the consequence of a variety of interactions in the Bic-BSA system. Bic-BSA tablets showed significantly enhanced dissolution. It was concluded that BSA plays an important role in improving the physicochemical properties of Bic due to strong multiple interactions between Bic and BSA.