Preparation and quality assessment of glycyrrhetinic acid-chitosan nanoparticles / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective: To study the optimal preparation process of glycyrrhetinic acid-chitosan nanoparticles (GA-CS-NPs) and to evaluate the quality. Methods: The GA-CS-NPs were prepared by ionic cross-linking. The particle size, drug loading, and encapsulation efficiency were as evaluation indexes. The prescription and preparation process were optimized through single factor and orthogonal design. The quality of GA-CS-NPs was evaluated by morphology, particle size, drug loading, and encapsulation efficiency. Results: The optimal prescription was as follows concentration of GA and CS was 0.2 and 2 mg/mL, ratio of CS and TPP (1.0 mg/mL) solutions was 20∶3. The mean diameter of GA-CS-NPs was (310.27 ± 10.02) nm, the entrapment efficiency and drug-loading efficiency were (51.42 ± 0.43)% and (6.87 ± 0.47)%. The evaluation showed that the appearance of GA-CS-NPs was round and uniform. It had a certain stability under lower temperature. Conclusion: The ionic cross-linking method used to prepare GA-CS-NPs is simple, rational, and stable.