DEVELOPMENT, CHARACTERIZATION AND BRAIN DISTRIBUTION STUDIES OF NANOSTRUCTURED LIPID CARRIER CONTAINING SAQUINAVIR MESYLATE FOR NASAL ADMINISTRATION

The aim of the present study was to formulate saquinavir mesylate loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (SQVM-NLC) and evaluate its brain distribution after nasal administration. NLCs reveal some advantages for drug therapy over conventional carriers, including increased solubility, the ability to enhance storage stability, improved permeability and bioavailability, reduced adverse effect, prolonged half-life, and tissue-targeted delivery. SQVM-NLCs were prepared by hot high pressure homogenization and subsequent stabilization by lyophilization. QVM- NLC developed showed a particle with the size of 124.4 nm, polydispersity index of 0.267, entrapment efficiency of 73% and the zeta potential of -24.9 mV. The results from Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD)and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) demonstrated that SQVM was present in NLC in an encapsulated molecule form. Mucosal toxicity study on sheep nasal mucosa showed no significant adverse effect of SQVMloaded NLC. SQVM-NLC showed slower release compared with saquinavir mesylate suspension in vitro. In vivo brain distribution studies demonstrated desired drug concentration in brain after intra nasal administration of SQVM-NLC than PDS. The results of the study also suggest that SQVM-NLC could be a promising drug delivery system for antiretroviral therapy