Use of nanostructured lipid carriers as a strategy to increase the bioavailability of Artepillin C

• Grant number: 23/05379-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2023
• End date: May 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal Investigator: Wallance Moreira Pazin
• Grantee: Vinicius Salgado Januário
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências (FC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/22214-6 - Towards a convergence of technologies: from sensing and biosensing to information visualization and machine learning for data analysis in clinical diagnosis, AP.TEM

Abstract

Bioactive natural compounds are known for their therapeutic potential. However, there is a great limitation in the clinical use of many of these bioactive natural compounds due to their low absorption efficiency and bioavailability when administered orally or topically in vivo, such as in the case of Artepillin C, the major compound of Brazilian green propolis. It is known that this molecule has a high efficiency in biological activities performed in in vitro assays, but due to its lipophilicity, its oral or topical administration is compromised, and there is low or insignificant in vivo activity in tumor tissues. In this context, we seek strategies to increase the therapeutic action efficiency of Artepillin C using nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs), which allow for an increase in the loading capacity due to the structural imperfections resulting from a less ordered crystalline arrangement. The lipid composition is a fundamental factor in ensuring the greater efficiency of encapsulation, carriage, and release of the bioactive compounds of interest, such as Artepillin C. We will employ biophysical techniques based on spectroscopy and optical and electron microscopy, as well as X-ray diffraction, to characterize the NLCs. High-performance liquid chromatography tests and the dialysis technique will be used to quantify the encapsulation and release of Artepillin C from the nanoparticles. The project is part of the newly established research line of the proposal's advisor at the Department of Physics of FC/UNESP - Bauru, which envisages the establishment of strategies to increase the efficiency of the pharmacological activity of phytochemicals of interest when applied in vivo, generating an impact in the health area.