Elaboration of essential oil nanoemulsions of Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) and its effect on liver injury prevention

Abstract

To overcome the hydrophobic limitation of the essential oil of rosemary were designed nanoemulsions have desirable composition and properties in order to take advantage of rosemary as a hepatoprotective agent. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the conditions for preparing rosemary nanoemulsions. Formulation stability under stress conditions was also evaluated. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) value and surfactant: oil ratio on the particle size and polydispersity index (PDI) of rosemary essential oil nanoemulsions and to evaluate the hepatoprotection on liver damage of Wistar rats. Results showed that the experimental data were adequately fitted into a second-order polynomial model with multiple regression coefficients (R2) of 0.968. HLB value had a significant effect on the particle size of the nanoemulsions. The NE with the optimum and stable characteristics was for particle size and PDI around 55 nm and 0.2, respectively, and HLB= 12. The optimum nanoemulsion was orally administered to adult male Wistar rats with thioacetamide (TA)-induced hepatic injury. The results of the in vivo model regarding the analysis of transaminases and liver indicated that nanoemulsified rosemary essential oil confers a hepatoprotective effect on the damaged liver of rats.