Praziquantel-Solid Lipid Nanoparticles Produced by Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction: Physicochemical Characterization, Release Profile, and Cytotoxicity
Luciana N. Andrade,
Daniele M.L. Oliveira,
Marco V. Chaud,
Thais F.R. Alves,
Marcelo Nery,
Classius F. da Silva,
Joyce K.C. Gonsalves,
Rogéria S. Nunes,
Cristiane B. Corrêa,
Ricardo G. Amaral,
Elena Sanchez-Lopez,
Eliana B. Souto,
Patrícia Severino
Affiliations
Luciana N. Andrade
Laboratory of Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine, Institute of Technology and Research, Aracaju SE 49032-490, Brazil
Daniele M.L. Oliveira
Laboratory of Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine, Institute of Technology and Research, Aracaju SE 49032-490, Brazil
Marco V. Chaud
Laboratory of Biomaterials and Nanotechnology, University of Sorocaba—UNISO, Sorocaba SP 18023-000, Brazil
Thais F.R. Alves
Laboratory of Biomaterials and Nanotechnology, University of Sorocaba—UNISO, Sorocaba SP 18023-000, Brazil
Marcelo Nery
Laboratory of Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine, Institute of Technology and Research, Aracaju SE 49032-490, Brazil
Classius F. da Silva
Laboratory of Biotechnology and Natural Products, Federal University of São Paulo, Diadema SP 09913-030, Brazil
Joyce K.C. Gonsalves
Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão SE 49100-000, Brazil
Rogéria S. Nunes
Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão SE 49100-000, Brazil
Cristiane B. Corrêa
Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão SE 49100-000, Brazil
Ricardo G. Amaral
Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão SE 49100-000, Brazil
Elena Sanchez-Lopez
Department of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Technology and Physical Chemistry, and Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IN2UB), Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Eliana B. Souto
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra (FFUC), Pólo das Ciências da Saúde, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal
Patrícia Severino
Laboratory of Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine, Institute of Technology and Research, Aracaju SE 49032-490, Brazil
Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) can be produced by various methods, but most of them are difficult to scale up. Supercritical fluid (SCF) is an important tool to produce micro/nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution and high encapsulation efficiency. The aim of this work was to produce cetyl palmitate SLNs using SCF to be loaded with praziquantel (PZQ) as an insoluble model drug. The mean particle size (nm), polydispersity index (PdI), zeta potential, and encapsulation efficiency (EE) were determined on the freshly prepared samples, which were also subject of Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), drug release profile, and in vitro cytotoxicity analyses. PZQ-SLN exhibited a mean size of ~25 nm, PdI ~ 0.5, zeta potential ~−28 mV, and EE 88.37%. The DSC analysis demonstrated that SCF reduced the crystallinity of cetyl palmitate and favored the loading of PZQ into the lipid matrices. No chemical interaction between the PZQ and cetyl palmitate was revealed by FTIR analysis, while the release or PZQ from SLN followed the Weibull model. PZQ-SLN showed low cytotoxicity against fibroblasts cell lines. This study demonstrates that SCF may be a suitable scale-up procedure for the production of SLN, which have shown to be an appropriate carrier for PZQ.
