Investigation of Nanoscale Structure of Self-Emulsifying Drug Delivery System Containing Poorly Water-Soluble Model Drug

Abstract

This work has a focus on the self-emulsifying drug delivery system (SEDDS), which can be used in pharmaceutical field for increasing bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs. The model drug resveratrol was used because of its poor water-solubility and is of interest because of its wide range of pharmacological effects. It is beneficial to understand the mechanism of SEDDS formation in the human body, therefore, the determination of nanoscale structure was carried out. For this purpose, small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques were applied. We have found that the size and size distribution of particles were in nanometers. The inner structure of SEDDS was ordered with the lamellar distances (d-spacing) of < 20 nm. It seems that the prepared SEDDS in water form large oil drops (200-400 nm) in water as well as small micelles with the droplet size of 10-20 nm.