Development, Characterization and In vitro Evaluation of Donepezil solid Lipid Nanoparticles

Abstract

Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) loaded with donepezil were prepared by hot homogenization followed by probe ultrasonication technique. Donepezil SLNs were composed of lipids (1 to 5%w/v) such as trimyristin, tristearin, glycerol monostearate and compritol which were stabilized by soya lecithin (0.5 to 2.5%w/v) and poloxamer 188 (0.5 to 2.5%w/v). Developed donepezil SLNs were characterized for size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency and content uniformity. Selected method of preparation was able to produce nanoparticles of size range 102.5 to 179.3 nm possessing zeta potential -23.5 to -34.9 mV with entrapment efficiency 86.65 to 89.64%. FTIR and DSC studies showed that there was no interaction between donepezil and selected lipids. Sterilization by autoclave increased size of SLNs from 1.5 to 1.9 times, however, there was no decrease in the zeta potential of the formulations. Short term stability studies showed that size of SLNs maximum increased by 38 nm whereas their entrapment efficiency was lowered by 1.3% only. In vitro release studies revealed that 61.58 to 74.82% of donepezil released from developed SLNs after 24 hours and found that drug release followed non-Fickian transport (0.556 to 0.658).