Issue 48, 2021

Evaluating the impact of systematic hydrophobic modification of model drugs on the control, stability and loading of lipid-based nanoparticles

Abstract

A significant number of new chemical entities in the drug development pipeline are poorly soluble, therefore routes that facilitate effective administration is of considerable value. Lipid nanoparticles have proved an attractive approach for drug delivery; however, challenges that include optimising drug loading and understanding the impact of drug physiochemical parameters on nanoparticle properties have limited progression. In this work, we investigate the effect of modifying the log P of a model drug on the formation and stability of lipid-based nanoparticles. A range of model drug analogues with systematically varying alkyl chains were produced using a lamivudine (nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor) scaffold and processed into lipid nanoparticles by nanoprecipitation. Characterisation included evaluation of particle diameter, size distribution, drug loading and nanoformulation stability. A distinct correlation with the LaMer model of nucleation was observed and log P appeared to strongly influence rates of nucleation. Model drugs with high log P were uniform in particle size and distribution and offered enhanced stability. In addition, various model drug/lipid blends were produced and their physical properties were investigated using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Complex mixtures of lipids were shown to influence formulation crystallinity and strategies to form uniform and stable lipid based nanoparticles of high drug loading- through manipulation of log P are discussed.

Graphical abstract: Evaluating the impact of systematic hydrophobic modification of model drugs on the control, stability and loading of lipid-based nanoparticles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 Okt 2021
Accepted
29 Nov 2021
First published
30 Nov 2021
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2021,9, 9874-9884

Evaluating the impact of systematic hydrophobic modification of model drugs on the control, stability and loading of lipid-based nanoparticles

C. Hogarth, K. Arnold, A. McLauchlin, S. P. Rannard, M. Siccardi and T. O. McDonald, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2021, 9, 9874 DOI: 10.1039/D1TB02297K

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