New cationic neuronanoemulsion-laden Eulophia herbacea mucilage based mucoadhesive hydrogel for intranasal delivery of chlorpromazine

ABSTRACT

The primary objective of the study was to investigate the mucoadhesion and gelling behaviour of mucilage isolated from the tubers of Eulophia herbacea (Orchidaceae), and to search the possibility of enhanced brain targetability through naso-brain delivery of stearylamine-tailored cationic neuronanoemulsions (cNNEs)-laden hydrogel formulation. The NNEs were fabricated using hot high-pressure homogenisation technique and optimised using Box-Behnken experimental design. The optimised sample of NNEs was surface-tailored with stearylamine to prepare cNNEs that were further loaded into mucilage-based mucoadhesive hydrogel formulation. The isolated tuber mucilage was found to contain the carbohydrates. The globule size and ζ-potential of CPZ-loaded NNEs were observed in a range of 27.49 ± 2.4 to 284.4 ± 6.2 nm, and −10.3 ± 1.2 to −15.4 ± 1.0 mV, respectively. For cNNEs, globule size, and ζ-potential were 32.42 ± 2.8 nm and 28.21 ± 0.4 mV, respectively. The bioadhesion potential of hydrogel was observed to be 18,622 mN, indicating its highly bioadhesive nature. Extensive characterisation at preclinical level appraised that it is a promising drug delivery approach.

Graphical Abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Eulophia herbacea
• neuronanoemulsion
• mucoadhesion
• hydrogel
• nose to brain
• drug delivery

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to Sun Pharma Ltd., Isochem Company Inc. (France), Jedwards International Inc. (USA) and Lipoid GmbH (Germany) for providing gift samples of CPZ, TPGS, Flaxseed oil, and Lipoid S₁₀₀, respectively.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.