Abstract
Royal jelly is a natural substance secreted by worker honeybees that possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and other biological activities. The purpose of this study was to formulate microemulsions with incorporated Lithuanian royal jelly for possible ophthalmic delivery and to evaluate the quality of the microemulsions in vitro. The oil in water type microemulsions were prepared by the oil titration method, incorporating royal jelly, surfactant, co-surfactant, oil, and water. Physicochemical characteristics of the microemulsions and the quantity of 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid released in vitro were assessed. The in vitro assessment of prepared microemulsions formulations was performed with the Statens Seruminstitut rabbit cornea (SIRC) cell culture model. The results revealed that the droplet size of all microemulsion formulations was 67.88–124.2 nm and the polydispersity index was lower than 0.180. In the in vitro release study, the release of 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid depended on the amount of royal jelly incorporated and on the ratio of surfactant and co-surfactant in formulations. The in vitro tests with the SIRC cell culture line have shown that all formulations were found non-irritating.
Highlights
Accepted: 29 March 2021Dry eye syndrome is an eye disease characterized by unpleasant symptoms, eye disorders, and instability of tear film, which can cause eye-surface disorders [1]
10–HDA is one of the main fatty acids in royal jelly (RJ) and is found naturally only in RJ. It can indicate the freshness of the product and is usually used as a quality marker for RJ
All microemulsion formulations had increased total cell viability at low concentrations, from 10–30 μL per well. These results indicate that small amounts of the microemulsions used increase cell proliferation in comparison with control cells that were not exposed to the formulations
Summary
Dry eye syndrome is an eye disease characterized by unpleasant symptoms, eye disorders, and instability of tear film, which can cause eye-surface disorders [1]. Dry eye syndrome requires the use of artificial tears, with chemical composition close to that of human tears. Human tears are composed of 23 amino acids, which can change depending on the physiological state of the eye surface [2]. One way of relieving dry eye syndrome is the use of eye drops containing amino acids. 3–8% of the dry part consists of lipids, but the lipids are important for biological activity [3]. Some fatty acids, such as omega-3 and Published: 31 March 2021
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