Nanocapsulation of nitazoxanide in solid lipid nanoparticles as a new drug delivery system and in vitro release study

Abstract

Background: Colloidal drug delivery system, Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLNs), helps to increase the solubility of the drug and its oral bioavailability. The aim of this study was to prepare and characterize physiochemically nitazoxanide (NTX) encapsulated within SLN to evaluate their effectiveness as a new antiparasitic and antiprotozoal delivery system. Materials and Methods: Nitazoxanide-loaded SLN with the following compositions: NTX-SLNa (1:5), NTX-SLNb (1:10) and NTX-SLNc (1:20) were prepared. The three formulations were physiochemically characterized by the particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, crystallinity and bonding characteristics. Results: The particle size of the NTX-loaded SLN obtained ranged from 228-448 nm. The NTX-loaded SLN particles were less ordered in crystalline structure than either bulk lipid or SLN. The NTX-loaded SLNa showed the highest Entrapment Efficiency (EE) (91.81%) and the highest Drug Loading (DL) (18.26%). In vitro drug release of NTX-loaded SLN in human plasma and phosphate buffer saline (pH = 7.4) showed that the amount of drug released approached 14.5 and 8.32%, respectively after 8 h of incubation. Conclusions: In conclusion, the study suggests that NTX-loaded SLN can be suitable to be used as a new antiparasitic and antiprotozoal drug delivery system.