Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery: Effect of Bovine Serum Albumin and Magnetic Nanoparticles Addition on Drug Encapsulation and Release

Olga Gianak,Charalambos Sarafidis,Eleni Deliyanni,Vassilis Karageorgiou,Eleni Pavlidou

doi:10.3390/separations5020025

Abstract

Silk fibroin nanoparticles were prepared in the present study based on phase separation between silk fibroin and polyvinyl alcohol. The drug encapsulation efficiency of the prepared nanoparticles was examined at a range of concentrations from 10 ppm to 500 ppm for pramipexole, curcumin, and propranolol hydrochloride. Silk fibroin nanoparticles encapsulated with propranolol presented the highest drug release profile. In order to improve the drug encapsulation efficiency and drug release performance, a modification of silk fibroin nanoparticles with bovine serum albumin and magnetic nanoparticles was tried. The modification was found to improve the drug encapsulation and release of the modified nanoparticles. Bovine-serum-modified nanoparticles presented the best improvement.

Highlights

Drug delivery aims to bring the compound with pharmaceutical activity to the exact point of need in the organism with the right concentrations in order to increase the efficiency of action [1].The improvement of cellular uptake, the reduction of the side effects, the control of drug release, the enhancement of drug bioavailability, and the reduction of the drug degradation rate are the purposes of drug delivery systems [2]
X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) peaks of silk fibroin are associated with its crystalline structure; Figure 1 presents the XRD results of the silk fibroin nanoparticles prepared in the current study
The 2θ diffraction peak presented in the XRD pattern of the silk fibroin nanoparticles at 2θ = 19.2◦ could be attributed to the silk II crystal structure of fibroin, indicating an increased crystallization degree of silk fibroin in the nanoparticles [21,22]

Summary

Introduction

Drug delivery aims to bring the compound with pharmaceutical activity to the exact point of need in the organism with the right concentrations in order to increase the efficiency of action [1].The improvement of cellular uptake, the reduction of the side effects, the control of drug release, the enhancement of drug bioavailability, and the reduction of the drug degradation rate are the purposes of drug delivery systems [2]. Nanoparticles are considered to be suitable for drug delivery due to their ability to act as modifiable platforms, their tunable size, and their high surface-to-volume ratio [2]. They can be used to deliver hydrophilic and hydrophobic drug molecules as well [3]. Silk fibroin, due to its excellent properties, such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, and low immunogenicity, has been extensively tested for a drug delivery application since silk materials exhibit high encapsulation efficiency and controllable drug release kinetics [4,5,6]

Methods

Results

Conclusion