Docosahexaenoic acid loaded lipid nanoparticles with bactericidal activity against Helicobacter pylori

Publication date: 15 March 2017 Source:International Journal of Pharmaceutics, Volume 519, Issues 1–2 Author(s): Catarina Leal Seabra, Cláudia Nunes, Maria Gomez-Lazaro, Marta Correia, José Carlos Machado, Inês C. Gonçalves, Celso A. Reis, Salette Reis, M. Cristina L. Martins Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid present in fish oil, has been described as a promising molecule to the treatment of Helicobacter pylori gastric infection. However, due to its highly unsaturated structure, DHA can be easily oxidized loosing part of its bioactivity. This work aims the nanoencapsulation of DHA to improve its bactericidal efficacy against H. pylori. DHA was loaded into nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) produced by hot homogenization and ultrasonication using a blend of lipids (Precirol ATO5®, Miglyol-812®) and a surfactant (Tween 60®). Homogeneous NLC with 302±14nm diameter, −28±3mV surface charge (dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering) and containing 66±7% DHA (UV/VIS spectroscopy) were successfully produced. Bacterial growth curves, performed over 24h in the presence of different DHA concentrations (free or loaded into NLC), demonstrated that nanoencapsulation enhanced DHA bactericidal effect, since DHA-loaded NLC were able to inhibit H. pylori growth in a much lower concentrations (25μM) than free DHA (>100μM). Bioimaging studies, using scanning and transmission electron microscopy and also imaging flow cytometry...
Source: International Journal of Pharmaceutics - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research