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Continuous Microfluidic Production of Citrem-Phosphatidylcholine Nano-Self-Assemblies for Thymoquinone Delivery       
Yazarlar
Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Esra İLHAN AYIŞIĞI
Kırşehir Ahi Evran Üniversitesi, Türkiye
Aghiad Ghazal
Barbara Sartori
Maria Dimaki
Winnie Edith Svendsen
Özlem Yeşil Çeliktaş
Ege Üniversitesi, Türkiye
Anan Yaghmur
Özet
Lamellar and non-lamellar liquid crystalline nanodispersions, including liposomes, cubosomes, and hexosomes are attractive platforms for drug delivery, bio-imaging, and related pharmaceutical applications. As compared to liposomes, there is a modest number of reports on the continuous production of cubosomes and hexosomes. Using a binary lipid mixture of citrem and soy phosphatidylcholine (SPC), we describe the continuous production of nanocarriers for delivering thymoquinone (TQ, a substance with various therapeutic potentials) by employing a commercial microfluidic hydrodynamic flow-focusing chip. In this study, nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) were employed to characterize TQ-free and TQ-loaded citrem/SPC nanodispersions. Microfluidic synthesis led to formation of TQ-free and TQ-loaded nanoparticles with mean sizes around 115 and 124 nm, and NTA findings indicated comparable nanoparticle size distributions in these nanodispersions. Despite the attractiveness of the microfluidic chip for continuous production of citrem/SPC nano-self-assemblies, it was not efficient as comparable mean nanoparticle sizes were obtained on employing a batch (discontinuous) method based on low-energy emulsification method. SAXS results indicated the formation of a biphasic feature of swollen lamellar (L-alpha) phase in coexistence with an inverse bicontinuous cubic Pn3m phase in all continuously produced TQ-free and TQ-loaded nanodispersions. Further, a set of SAXS experiments were conducted on samples prepared using the batch method for gaining further insight into the effects of ethanol and TQ concentration on the structural features of citrem/SPC nano-self-assemblies. We discuss these effects and comment on the need to introduce efficient microfluidic platforms for producing nanocarriers for delivering TQ and other therapeutic agents.
Anahtar Kelimeler
thymoquinone, inverse bicontinuous cubic Pn3m phase, microfluidics, nanoparticle tracking analysis, synchrotron small-angle scattering
Makale Türü Özgün Makale
Makale Alt Türü SSCI, AHCI, SCI, SCI-Exp dergilerinde yayımlanan tam makale
Dergi Adı NANOMATERIALS
Dergi ISSN 2079-4991
Dergi Tarandığı Indeksler SCI
Dergi Grubu Q1
Makale Dili Türkçe
Basım Tarihi 06-2021
Cilt No 11
Sayı 6
Doi Numarası 10.3390/nano11061510
Makale Linki http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano11061510