Box-Behnken Design for Formulation, Characterization and In-vivo Antidiabetic Activity of Pioglitazone Loaded Nanostructured Lipid Carriers

Abstract

This study employs a 23 full factorial design in the design of experiment (DOE) technique to assess the impact of critical quality attributes (CQAs) on critical process parameters (CPPs) in the formulation of pioglitazone (PGZ) loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs). The three chosen CPPs are the quantity of liquid lipid (Captex 300), the proportion of solid lipid (Glyceryl Palmitostearate), and the amount of surfactant. The CQAs evaluated are entrapment efficiency (%EE) and particle size. The PGZ-loaded NLCs are prepared through a solvent injection method. The lipid phase, consisting of dissolved medication and lipids in ethanol, is rapidly injected into an aqueous phase containing the surfactant. The resulting dispersion undergoes analysis for entrapment effectiveness and particle size. Additionally, the in-vivo antidiabetic activity of the optimal formulation is examined using diabetic rat models induced by streptozotocin (STZ), and relevant biochemical parameters are assessed. The results demonstrate that the proposed PGZ-loaded NLCs exhibit superior antidiabetic activity and favorable physicochemical characteristics compared to free PGZ. This study provides valuable insights into the formulation and characterization of NLCs for enhanced diabetes management, emphasizing their potential as a promising delivery system to improve the therapeutic efficacy of antidiabetic drugs like PGZ