Abstract
Abstract Traditional Chinese herbs have attracted extensive attention due to their good efficacy, low toxicity, and minor side effects. However, some active ingredient extracts are relatively sensitive to external influence and liable to lose their effectiveness. Different from the traditional and complex encapsulation methods, one can easily prepare drug-loaded microcapsules to improve their bioavailability using the new encapsulation technology. In this work, we used the sonochemical method to prepare bovine serum albumin (BSA)/astragalus membranaceus oil (AM) microcapsules. The technology was simpler, greener, and more efficient. Thereinto, BSA and AM oil were used as the shell material and the core material, respectively. The effects of ultrasonic amplitude, ultrasonic mode, and ultrasonic time on synthetic reactions were studied. The morphology and size of the BSA/AM microcapsules were investigated using transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The loading efficiency and drug release behavior were determined using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, respectively. The best ultrasonic synthesis conditions were obtained by the above analysis, with an ultrasound amplitude of 30%, ultrasound mode of the pulse mode of 2 s, ultrasound time of 4 min. The DLS results show that the microcapsule size is 484.4 nm and the polydispersity index is small. The TGA results show that the drug loading efficiency is about 77%, and the hemolysis tests show that the BSA/AM microcapsules have no cytotoxicity at lower concentrations (lower than 50 μg·mL−1).
Highlights
Traditional Chinese medicine is precious wealth accumulated by the Chinese nation in the fight against diseases for thousands of years [1]
The bovine serum albumin (BSA)/astragalus membranaceus oil (AM) microcapsules were successfully prepared by a sonochemical method
The particle size gradually increased and the drug loading efficiency gradually decreased with its increase
Summary
Traditional Chinese medicine is precious wealth accumulated by the Chinese nation in the fight against diseases for thousands of years [1]. Different methods would be selected depending on the properties of the core and shell materials, the size of microcapsules, the drug release performance, and the targeting of core materials [13,14]. Della Porta et al [23] synthesized injectable PLGA/hydroxyapatite/chitosan microcapsules by the supercritical emulsion extraction technique They were coated with teriparatide/gentamicin inside, and the different drug loadings and microcapsule compositions could ensure controlled drug release within a wide range of time and concentration. Compared with traditional encapsulation methods, this synthesis process has short reaction times and high efficiency, and there are no by-products in the reaction system. The particle size, drug loading, structure, morphology, and the cytotoxicity of the microcapsule products obtained under optimal conditions were characterized and analyzed by DLS, TG, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), TEM, and hemolysis experiments
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