Proficiency of nanostructured lipid carriers for the formulation of amphiphilic bile acid oligomers

Abstract Biocompatible nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) are promising drug delivery vehicles for the formulation of hydrophobic drugs. These nanocarriers comprising liquid lipid inside solid core provide improved drug loading capacity compared to other existing lipid-based nanocarriers such as solid lipid nanoparticles or liquid emulsions. In the present report, we successfully employed D12DAB based NLCs for the formulation of bile acid-derived amphipathic oligomers. The prepared nano-formulation rendered adequate aqueous solubility to these bioactive bile acid oligomers. Hydrodynamic diameter, viscosity, surface tension, conductivity and zeta potential of the prepared NLCs were determined by dynamic light scattering, viscometer, tensiometer, conductivity meter, and zeta analyzer and was found to be in the range of 122-147 nm, 2.07-2.15 mPa.s, 29.7-30.2 mN/m, 540-550 mS/m, and 15.7-16 mV, respectively. In addition, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy analysis were performed to understand the external morphology and internal structure of synthesized NLCs. The applications of the synthesized NLCs to encapsulate dapsone and its release kinetics were studied in detail. The results conferred the formation of bile acid-enriched stable NLCs which could be a promising system to formulate and/or deliver several combinations of antibiotics or other bioactive agents to treat undesired physiological conditions.