Development and characterization of biocompatible isotropic and anisotropic oil-in-water colloidal dispersions as a new delivery system for methyl dihydrojasmonate antitumor drug.

Microemulsions (MEs) are colloidal systems that can be used for drug-delivery and drug-targeting purposes. These systems are able to incorporate drugs modifying bioavailability and stability and reducing toxic effects. The jasmonate compounds belong to a group of plant stress hormones, and the jasmonic acid and its methyl ester derivative have been described as having anticancer activity. However, these compounds are very poorly water-soluble, not allowing administration by an intravenous route without an efficient nanostructured carrier system. In this work, biocompatible MEs of appropriate diameter size for intravenous route administration, loaded and unloaded with methyl dihydrojasmonate (MJ), were developed and described in a pseudo-ternary phase diagram. The compositions of the MEs were carefully selected from their own regions in the pseudo-ternary phase diagram. The formulations were analyzed by light scattering, polarized light microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Also, a study on rheological profile was performed. The results showed that the droplet size decreased with both MJ incorporation and oil phase/surfactant ratio. All compositions of the studied MEs showed rheological behavior of pseudoplastic fluid and amorphous structures. In the absence of MJ, most of the studied MEs had thixotropic characteristics, which became antithixotropic in the presence of the drug. Almost all MJ-unloaded MEs presented anisotropic characteristics, but some formulations became isotropic, especially in the presence of MJ. The results of this study support the conclusion that the studied system represents a promising vehicle for in vivo administration of the MJ antitumor drug.

Effect of cosurfactant on the supramolecular structure and physicochemical properties of non-ionic biocompatible microemulsions / Efeito de cotensoativo na obtenção e nas propriedades físico-químicas de microemulsões não iônicas

Microemulsions are transparent, homogeneous and thermodynamically stable systems, formed spontaneously under a specific set of experimental conditions from mixtures of water and oil phases stabilized by a surfactant or a mixture of surfactant and cosurfactant. These systems exhibit some unique properties that make them particularly interesting as delivery systems, as much for the oral as for the topical route. In the present work, we have studied the domain of existence of non-ionic microemulsion systems within pseudo-ternary phase diagrams. The results show a large area of microemulsion domain for O/W and W/O microemulsions. Depending on the proportion of components the apparent viscosity of the systems varied significantly. We have found that the presence of ethanol as cosurfactant affects the physical properties particularly the apparent viscosity and relative density. Analysis of the data indicated that the studied systems behave as non-Newtonian pseudoplastic shear-thinning fluids appropriated for pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications.

Microemulsões são sistemas transparentes, homogêneos e termodinamicamente estáveis, formados espontaneamente, sob determinadas condições experimentais, a partir de misturas de água e fase oleosa estabilizadas por tensoativo ou por mistura de tensoativo e cotensoativo. Esses sistemas exibem propriedades diferenciadas, as quais os tornam particularmente interessantes como sistemas de liberação, principalmente pelas vias oral e tópica. Nesse trabalho foi estudado o domínio da existência de sistemas microemulsionados não iônicos, através de diagramas de fase pseudo-ternários. Os resultados mostraram uma grande área de domínio para microemulsões O/A e A/O, onde A e O referem-se a água e óleo, respectivamente. Dependendo das proporções dos componentes, a viscosidade aparente dos sistemas variou significantemente. Foi determinado que a presença de etanol como cotensoativo modificou as propriedades físico-químicas dos sistemas, particularmente da viscosidade aparente e da densidade relativa. A análise dos dados mostrou que o sistema estudado comporta-se como um fluido não-Newtoniano pseudoplástico próprio para aplicações farmacêuticas e cosméticas.