Brij-stabilized zein nanoparticles as potential drug carriers.

Agnese Gagliardi, Silvia Voci, Maria Cristina Salvatici, Massimo Fresta, Donato Cosco

Colloids and surfaces. B, Biointerfaces 2021 May

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The current study was designed to provide a preliminary physico-chemical characterization of zein nanosystems prepared with various Brij surfactants (for the first time to the best of our knowledge) as a function of various external stimuli such as temperature, pH, serum incubation and the freeze-drying process. The results demonstrate that when Brijs are characterized by unsaturation (C18), considerable stabilization of the colloidal structure is promoted while the length of the polyethylene glycol fraction does not significantly modulate the physico-chemical properties of the nanosystems. Specifically, dynamic light scattering and nanoparticle tracking analysis demonstrated that the use of 0.2 % w/v of Brij O10 promoted the formation of stable zein nanosystems with mean sizes of ∼150 nm and a narrow size distribution, preserving their structures at various pHs and temperatures. The use of mannitol as cryoprotectant resulted in a formulation that can easily be re-suspended in water after the freeze-drying process. This nanoformulation demonstrated that it efficiently retained different amounts of both hydrophilic and lipophilic compounds and showed a prolonged release of the entrapped molecules. In addition, the nanosystems showed a favorable degree of in vitro safety on various cell lines when a concentration <50 μg/mL of protein was used, demonstrating the potential application of Brij O10-stabilized zein nanoparticles as innovative nanocarriers of several active compounds. Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Citation

Agnese Gagliardi, Silvia Voci, Maria Cristina Salvatici, Massimo Fresta, Donato Cosco. Brij-stabilized zein nanoparticles as potential drug carriers. Colloids and surfaces. B, Biointerfaces. 2021 May;201:111647