Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, Vol.27, No.3, 1583-1585, 2009
Nanodispersion of quercetin and ferulic acid
Using natural compounds such as flavonoids in combination therapy methods in various diseases such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis are under special consideration. Unfortunately poor solubility of flavonoids is a significant limitation in preparing pharmaceutical dosage forms. It is reported that preparing nanoparticles can overcome poor solubility problem of the compounds. The oil/water nanodispersions are a group of preparations in which the poorly soluble drugs could be dissolved in the oil core and/or adsorbed on the O/W interface. In this study, dispersion of flavonoids, quercetin (QC), and ferulic acid (FA) was prepared by solvent diffusion method in organic phase and lecithin. After adding the dispersion to the aqueous phase, ultrasonication and ultracentrifugation were carried out. A mixture of emulsifier and water were added and the mixture was ultrasonicated again. Solvent was removed under reduced pressure at 50 degrees C using nitrogen-purged vials. The particles were evaluated for size and size distribution, zeta potential (ZEN 3000, Malvern, England), shape, percent entrapment, and in vitro release. Differential scanning calorimetry method was used to understand the thermotropic properties and phase transition behavior. Droplet size of nanoparticles of QC and FA was 298 +/- 14 and 289 +/- 14 nm, respectively. The scanning electron microscope results show that the particles were spherical and majority of them were unilamellar.
Keywords:differential scanning calorimetry;diffusion;drops;electrokinetic effects;nanostructured materials;nanotechnology;organic compounds;scanning electron microscopy