Development of Piperine-Loaded Solid Self-Nanoemulsifying Drug Delivery System: Optimization, In-Vitro, Ex-Vivo, and In-Vivo Evaluation

Hypertension is a cardiovascular disease that needs long-term medication. Oral delivery is the most common route for the administration of drugs. The present research is to develop piperine self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (PE-SNEDDS) using glyceryl monolinoleate (GML), poloxamer 188, and transcutol HP as oil, surfactant, and co-surfactant, respectively. The formulation was optimized by three-factor, three-level Box-Behnken design. PE-SNEDDs were characterized for globule size, emulsification time, stability, in-vitro release, and ex-vivo intestinal permeation study. The optimized PE-SNEDDS (OF3) showed the globule size of 70.34 ± 3.27 nm, percentage transmittance of 99.02 ± 2.02%, and emulsification time of 53 ± 2 s Finally, the formulation OF3 was transformed into solid PE-SNEDDS (S-PE-SNEDDS) using avicel PH-101 as adsorbent. The reconstituted SOF3 showed a globule size of 73.56 ± 3.54 nm, PDI of 0.35 ± 0.03, and zeta potential of −28.12 ± 2.54 mV. SEM image exhibited the PE-SNEDDS completely adsorbed on avicel. Thermal analysis showed the drug was solubilized in oil, surfactant, and co-surfactant. S-PE-SNEDDS formulation showed a more significant (p < 0.05) release (97.87 ± 4.89% in 1 h) than pure PE (27.87 ± 2.65% in 1 h). It also exhibited better antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa and antioxidant activity as compared to PE dispersion. The in vivo activity in rats exhibited better (p < 0.05) antihypertensive activity as well as 4.92-fold higher relative bioavailability than pure PE dispersion. Finally, from the results it can be concluded that S-PE-SNEDDS might be a better approach for the oral delivery to improve the absorption and therapeutic activity.