Comparative studies of silibinin contained solid lipid nanoparticles prepared by two methods

    LI Yingª²Chao1, DONG Lei2, JIA Ai1, CHANG Xinª²Ming1, XUE Hui1

    1Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital, Medical College, Xi¬ðan Jiaotong University, Xi¬ðan 710061, China, 2Department of Gastroenterology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Medical College, Xi¬ðan Jiaotong University, Xi¬ðan 710004, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To evaluate the potential of the preparatory methods of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) carrying silibinin (SIL) extracted from traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, and to study the physicochemical characteristics of the SILª²SLN produced by 2 different methods. METHODS: SILª²SLN was prepared by ultrasonication or high pressure homogenization. Transmission electron microscopy was employed to study the shape. Particle characterization system and zeta potential analyzer were used to study the particle diameter and zeta potential of SLN in suspension. The entrapment efficiency was determined by sephadex gel chromatography and highª²performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The stability of SLN was also studied. RESULTS: The SILª²SLN prepared by ultrasonication was plateletª²shaped and irregular, and the SILª²SLN prepared by high pressure homogenization was spherical and regular in shape. The particle diameters of SILª²SLN prepared by ultrasonication and high pressure homogenization were (165¡À7) nm and (157¡À6) nm separately (P<0.05). The Zeta potentials were (-28.35¡À2.72) mv and (-35.36¡À2.68) mv separately (P<0.001). The entrapment efficiencies were (90.59¡À0.89)% and (95.64¡À1.33)% (P<0.001) separately. SILª²SLN prepared by high pressure homogenization showed sufficient longª²term stability with only slight particle growth (P>0.05) after storage at room temperature for 4 weeks. CONCLUSION: High pressure homogenization is demonstrated to be a more suitable method than ultrasonication to prepare the smaller, steadier and highly incorporated SILª²SLN. ......