Oil-in-water nanoemulsions are suitable for carrying hydrophobic compounds: Indomethacin as a model of anti-inflammatory drug

Int J Pharm. 2016 Dec 30;515(1-2):749-756. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2016.11.016. Epub 2016 Nov 4.

Abstract

Oil-in-water nanoemulsions are increasingly being used as delivery systems for encapsulating lipophilic components in functional food, personal care and pharmaceutical products. In the current study, we developed a multimodal platform to carry hydrophobic indomethacin or magnetic nanoparticles, or both. As a consequence, this platform has great potential for therapeutic or imaging purposes. By optimizing the system composition and homogenization conditions, a nanoemulsion with a mean droplet diameter of about 200nm and a low polydispersity index (<0.2) was formed. The plain nanoemulsion was shown to be innocuous in cellular studies and did not present acute toxicity (observed in a rat model). More interesting was the finding that nanoemulsions loaded with indomethacin presented a significantly different anti-inflammatory than the free drug.

Keywords: Acute toxicity; Anti-inflammation; Cell viability; Indomethacin; Nanoemulsion.

MeSH terms

  • 3T3 Cells
  • Animals
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents / chemistry*
  • Cell Line
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Chemistry, Pharmaceutical / methods
  • Drug Delivery Systems / methods
  • Emulsions / chemistry*
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
  • Indomethacin / chemistry*
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Oils / chemistry*
  • Particle Size
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Water / chemistry*

Substances

  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents
  • Emulsions
  • Oils
  • Water
  • Indomethacin