Self-emulsifying drug delivery system: Mucus permeation and innovative quantification technologies

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Pharmaceutics
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Mucus acts as a protective barrier against foreign particles, including therapeutic nanoparticles (NPs).
• Mucus barriers can trap NPs through physical size exclusion and selective hydrophilic/lipophilic interactions.
• Nano-carriers for mucosal delivery must be designed to overcome mucus entrapment for effective drug transport.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate Self-Emulsifying Drug Delivery Systems (SEDDS) as muco-diffusive nano-carriers for enhanced mucosal drug delivery.
• To highlight the potential of SEDDS in overcoming mucus barrier limitations compared to traditional nano-carriers.
• To emphasize the importance of selecting appropriate in vitro techniques for assessing nano-carrier diffusivity.

Main Methods:

• Review of strategies for synthesizing muco-diffusive nano-carriers, focusing on SEDDS.
• Discussion of SEDDS properties, including stability and permeation characteristics across mucus.
• Exploration of various in vitro measurement techniques for evaluating droplet diffusion within mucus.

Main Results:

• SEDDS demonstrate promising characteristics for mucus delivery, including enhanced dissolution and bioavailability of insoluble drugs.
• SEDDS exhibit high stability against intestinal enzymatic activity and relatively rapid permeation across mucus barriers.
• In vitro studies confirm the high diffusivity of SEDDS through intestinal mucus.

Conclusions:

• SEDDS represent a highly effective nano-carrier system for diffusing through intestinal mucus.
• Further research is needed to fully understand and optimize SEDDS for mucosal drug delivery compared to solid nano-carriers.