Development of Nanoemulsion containing Centella Asiatica Crude Extract as a Promising Drug Delivery System for Epilepsy Treatment

Abstract

Preparations of products containing herbal extracts have grown by leaps and bounds, hitting the pharmaceutical industries due to the natural healing approach. Centella asiatica L. (pegaga) (C. asiatica) is a famous plant commonly served as a salad in Asian diets. It contains various phytoconstituents, which plays a vital role in the treatment of various illness. For example, in the treatment of epilepsy, crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) has been a challenge (even as parenteral application) as not all the drugs were able to pass through the membrane and produce a maximum therapeutic effect to the targeted site of action. Thus, a nanoemulsion formulation containing C. asiatica crude extract needs to be developed to penetrate the BBB. This study aims to formulate a nanoemulsion containing crude extract of C. asiatica leaves for epilepsy treatment. Nanoemulsion was prepared by using low energy emulsification method. The particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), and zeta potential of C. asiatica crude extract nanoemulsion were found to be at 57.86 ± 0.03 nm, 0.50 ± 0.03, and -26.50 ± 0.03 mV, respectively. The formulation remained physically stable at different storage temperatures (4, 25, and 45 °C) for 90 days. The particle size observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was shown to be at ̴50 nm, which correlated well with the Zetasizer analysis. The cytotoxicity study, conducted on formulated C. asiatica nanoemulsion towards Vero cell line and 3T3 cell line, showed that the IC50 value indicated that it is nontoxic (>500 µg/ml). C. asiatica nanoemulsion was found to be stable based on the good evidence of physicochemical properties, and the IC50 value indicates significance for future in vivo and in vitro studies based upon the route of administration.