Abstract
Aim: Acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid (AKBA) is a potent anti-inflammatory compound limited by its low water solubility and bioavailability. To load AKBA on silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to improve bioavailability and water solubility of the compound. Materials & methods: AKBA-AgNPs were chemically synthesized and characterized by UV–Vis spectrophotometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. AKBA and AKBA-Ag were studied for their sedative-hypnotic and anti-inflammatory efficacies. Results: Pretreatment with AKBA or AKBA-Ag caused significant dose-dependent sedative-hypnotic effects at 5 and 10 mg/kg intraperitoneal. The effects of AKBA-loaded AgNPs caused pronounced changes in mice compared with those of AKBA, and the AKBA-AgNPs demonstrated anti-inflammatory effects that were superior to those of AKBA. Conclusion: The loading of AKBA on nanoparticles improved its pharmacokinetic effects, and capacity for drug delivery.
Supplementary data
To view the supplementary data that accompany this paper please visit the journal website at:www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.2217/epi-2016-0184
Author contributions
A Al-Harrasi conceived and designed the study. A Khan performed most of the experiments, analyzed and interpreted the data, contributed to the drafting of the manuscript. R Sarwar and T Ahmad contributed to the optimization of the methods and to the experiments. N Ur Rehman performed the isolation. A Al-Rawahi and R Csuk analyzed the data. R Ghaffar and H Khan performed the animal studies. I Al-Amri performed characterization. All the authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the University of Nizwa for the generous support of this project. The authors also thank analytical and technical staff for assistance.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
Work was funded by the University of Nizwa Internal Grants (A/14-14-UoN/11/Chair/IF). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
Writing support was provided by ‘Editage’ and was funded by the University of Nizwa Internal Grants.
Ethical conduct of research
The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations.