Development, characterization and antimalarial efficacy of dihydroartemisinin loaded solid lipid nanoparticles.

Abstract

Description

Research Article published by Elsevier Volume 12, Issue 3, April 2016
Effective use of dihydroartemisinin (DHA) is limited by poor water-solubility, poor pharmacokinetic profile and unsatisfactory clinical outcome especially in monotherapy. To reduce such limitations, we reformulated DHA into solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) as a nanomedicine drug delivery system. DHA-SLNs were characterized for physical parameters and evaluated for in vitro and in vivo antimalarial efficacy. DHA-SLNs showed desirable particle characteristics including particle size (240.7 nm), particle surface charge (+ 17.0 mV), drug loadings (13.9 wt %), encapsulation efficacy (62.3%), polydispersity index (0.16) and a spherical appearance. Storage stability up to 90 days and sustained release of drug over 20 h was achieved. Enhanced in vitro (IC50 0.25 ng/ml) and in vivo (97.24% chemosuppression at 2 mg/kg/day) antimalarial activity was observed. Enhancement in efficacy was 24% when compared to free DHA. These encouraging results show potential of using the described formulation for DHA drug delivery for clinical application.

Keywords

Dihydroartemisinin, Nanomedicine drug delivery, Solid lipid nanoparticles

Citation