Non-lamellar liquid crystalline nanocarriers for thymoquinone encapsulation

Abstract

Owing to their unique structural features, non-lamellar liquid crystalline nanoparticles comprising cubosomes and hexosomes are attracting increasing attention as versatile investigative drug carriers. Background: Depending on their physiochemical characteristics, drug molecules on entrapment can modulate and reorganize structural features of cubosomes and hexosomes. Therefore, it is important to assess the effect of guest molecules on broader biophysical characteristics of non-lamellar liquid crystalline nanoparticles, since drug-induced architectural, morphological, and size modifications can affect the biological performance of cubosomes and hexosomes. Methods: We report on alterations in morphological, structural, and size characteristics of nanodispersions composed from binary mixtures of glycerol monooleate and vitamin E on thymoquinone (a molecule with wide therapeutic potentials) loading. Results: Thymoquinone loading was associated with a slight increase in the mean hydrodynamic nanoparticle size and led to structural transitions from an internal biphasic feature of coexisting inverse cubic Fd3m and hexagonal (H2) phases to an internal inverse cubic Fd3m phase (micellar cubosomes) or an internal inverse micellar (L2) phase (emulsified microemulsions, EMEs). We further report on the presence of "flower-like" vesicular populations in both native and drug-loaded nanodispersions. Conclusions: These nanodispersions have the potential to accommodate thymoquinone and may be considered as promising platforms for the development of thymoquinone nanomedicines.