Altaee Mohammed, Faheem Ahmed Mostafa, Elkordy Amal Ali
School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing, University of Sunderland, Sunderland SR1 3SD, UK.
RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah P.O. Box 11172, United Arab Emirates.
Pharmaceutics. 2025 Jun 30;17(7):862. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics17070862.
: The active (remote) loading of drugs into nanoparticulate systems via the pH gradient technique has been proven highly successful in liposomes, as numerous formulations have reached the market. However, this is not the case for niosomes, as the full potential of this area remains largely undiscovered. The purpose of this research is to study the effect of different co-surfactants (Cremophor RH 40, Cremophor ELP and Solutol HS-15) on stabilising the niosomal membrane to enable the creation of a pH gradient. : For visualisation of pH gradients, pH indicator bromocresol green (BCG) was used as a novel encapsulated model molecule to visually investigate the ability of niosomes to entrap drugs through active loading. Thereafter, the optimised BCG niosomal formulation was applied to encapsulate a therapeutic drug molecule, doxorubicin, via pH gradient active loading. Niosomes were formulated via thin-film hydration using Span 60, cholesterol, with or without co-surfactants. Thin films were hydrated with either Trizma buffer or HEPES buffer for BCG, or ammonium sulfate for doxorubicin. The niosomes' outer membrane pH was adjusted via either the addition of HCl or citric acid in the case of BCG, or by passing the niosomes through a Sephadex G50 gel column, pre-equilibrated with PBS or Trizma buffer, in the case of doxorubicin. : Niosomes formulated with Span 60 and cholesterol could not be formed at acidic pH and thus could not create a pH gradient. All three co-surfactants, when added to Span 60 and cholesterol, stabilised the niosomes and enabled them to form a pH gradient. Niosomes (after size reduction) containing Solutol HS-15 showed significantly higher entrapment efficiency of BCG when compared to Cremophor RH 40 and Cremophor ELP (67.86% vs. 15.57% vs. 17.81%, respectively, with sizes of 159.6 nm, 177.9 nm and 219.1 nm, respectively). The use of HEPES buffer resulted in a higher EE of BCG compared to Trizma buffer (72.85% vs. 67.86%) and achieved a size of 283.4 nm. The Solutol HS-15 containing formulation has exhibited 68.28% EE of doxorubicin with ammonium sulfate as the inner buffer, while the external buffer was Trizma with a size of 241.1 nm after extrusion. : Niosomal formulations containing Solutol HS-15 are highly promising for remote drug loading. The novel use of BCG for studying pH gradient and drug loading into niosomes has proved beneficial and successful.
通过pH梯度技术将药物主动(远程)加载到纳米颗粒系统中,在脂质体方面已被证明非常成功,因为许多制剂已投放市场。然而,对于非离子型表面活性剂泡囊来说并非如此,因为这一领域的全部潜力在很大程度上仍未被发掘。本研究的目的是研究不同的助表面活性剂(聚氧乙烯蓖麻油RH 40、聚氧乙烯蓖麻油ELP和聚乙二醇单硬脂酸酯HS - 15)对稳定非离子型表面活性剂泡囊膜以形成pH梯度的影响。
为了可视化pH梯度,使用pH指示剂溴甲酚绿(BCG)作为一种新型的包封模型分子,以直观地研究非离子型表面活性剂泡囊通过主动加载包封药物的能力。此后,将优化后的BCG非离子型表面活性剂泡囊制剂应用于通过pH梯度主动加载来包封治疗药物分子阿霉素。非离子型表面活性剂泡囊通过薄膜水化法制备,使用司盘60、胆固醇,添加或不添加助表面活性剂。对于BCG,薄膜用三羟甲基氨基甲烷缓冲液或HEPES缓冲液水化,对于阿霉素则用硫酸铵水化。在BCG的情况下,通过添加盐酸或柠檬酸来调节非离子型表面活性剂泡囊的外膜pH,在阿霉素的情况下,通过使非离子型表面活性剂泡囊通过用PBS或三羟甲基氨基甲烷缓冲液预平衡的葡聚糖凝胶G50柱来调节。
用司盘60和胆固醇制备的非离子型表面活性剂泡囊在酸性pH下无法形成,因此无法形成pH梯度。当将所有三种助表面活性剂添加到司盘60和胆固醇中时,它们稳定了非离子型表面活性剂泡囊并使其能够形成pH梯度。与聚氧乙烯蓖麻油RH 40和聚氧乙烯蓖麻油ELP相比,含有聚乙二醇单硬脂酸酯HS - 15的非离子型表面活性剂泡囊(在减小尺寸后)显示出显著更高的BCG包封效率(分别为67.86%、15.57%和17.81%,尺寸分别为159.6nm、177.9nm和219.1nm)。与三羟甲基氨基甲烷缓冲液相比,使用HEPES缓冲液导致BCG的包封效率更高(72.85%对67.86%),并且尺寸达到283.4nm。以硫酸铵为内部缓冲液,含有聚乙二醇单硬脂酸酯HS - 15的制剂对阿霉素的包封效率为68.28%,而外部缓冲液为三羟甲基氨基甲烷,挤压后尺寸为241.1nm。
含有聚乙二醇单硬脂酸酯HS - 15的非离子型表面活性剂泡囊制剂在远程药物加载方面非常有前景。将BCG用于研究pH梯度和药物加载到非离子型表面活性剂泡囊中这一新颖应用已证明是有益且成功的。
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