A Novel Solid Nanocrystals Self-Stabilized Pickering Emulsion Prepared by Spray-Drying with...

Area of Science:

• Pharmaceutical Technology
• Materials Science
• Drug Delivery

Background:

• Poorly soluble drugs exhibit low bioavailability, limiting their therapeutic efficacy.
• Drug nanocrystals self-stabilized Pickering emulsions (NSSPE) offer improved solubility and bioavailability.
• Developing stable solid forms of NSSPE is crucial for practical drug formulation and storage.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a solid NSSPE of puerarin using spray-drying while preserving its unique microstructure.
• To identify suitable water-soluble solid carriers for solidifying NSSPE.
• To optimize spray-drying parameters and evaluate the in vitro performance and stability of the solid NSSPE.

Main Methods:

• Spray-drying of puerarin NSSPE with various water-soluble carriers.
• Box-Behnken design for optimizing spray-drying parameters (carrier amount, feed rate, inlet temperature).
• Characterization using microscopy (fluorescence, confocal laser scanning, scanning electron), drug release studies, and stability testing.

Main Results:

• Hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) was identified as the optimal carrier, preserving the core-shell microstructure of the reconstituted emulsion.
• Optimized solid NSSPE exhibited similar drug release profiles to liquid NSSPE, significantly higher than crude puerarin.
• The solid NSSPE demonstrated good stability under accelerated conditions (75% RH, 40 °C) for 3 months.

Conclusions:

• Solid NSSPE of puerarin can be successfully developed via spray-drying using HP-β-CD.
• The developed solid form retains the advantageous microstructure and in vitro properties of liquid NSSPE.
• This technology holds promise for improving the delivery and efficacy of poorly soluble drugs.