Supercritical CO2-assisted process for co-encapsulation of nanocapsules containing butyrate and propionate in microparticles

• Grant number: 23/15483-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: March 25, 2024
• End date: February 28, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Pharmacy - Pharmaceutical Technology
• Principal Investigator: Marlus Chorilli
• Grantee: Suzana Gonçalves Carvalho
• Supervisor: Ernesto Reverchon
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCFAR). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Università degli Studi di Salerno, Italy
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/14075-1 - Multifunctional systems based on polysaccharides for colon-specific release of post-biotics and their potential for application in the treatment and prevention of inflammatory bowel diseases, BP.PD

Abstract

Postbiotics are substances released or produced by the metabolic activity of microorganisms, which exert a beneficial effect on the host, directly or indirectly, and may include many different constituents, in which short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) stand out. due to their excellent anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties in combating prevalent intestinal diseases, however, SCFAs have some limitations as they are low molecular weight compounds that have limited clinical use due to unfavorable pharmacokinetics, non-selective pharmacological action, low palatability, and unpleasant odor. The development of colon-specific delivery systems based on nano/microsystems, however, may favor the local selective pharmacological action of these active ingredients, improving their therapeutic efficacy. Traditional techniques frequently used to produce nano/microparticles have many limitations, such as control of the average diameter and morphology, high polydispersity index, need for high temperatures for the drying process compromising the integrity of bioactive compounds, low yield, long processing time, high cost, low drug encapsulation efficiency, by-products, organic solvent residues and surfactants, and compromised stability. To get around these problems, supercritical CO2 (SC-CO2) assisted techniques have been explored for drug delivery due to their advantages such as controlled shape, narrow size distribution of the microparticles, high drug encapsulation efficiency, and treatment of thermolabile bioactive compounds. The present project aims to develop multifunctional systems based on nano-in-microparticles using Supercritical assisted electrospray and Continuous Supercritical Emulsions Extraction for the encapsulation of postbiotics, to be carried out at the University of Salerno, under the supervision of Ph.D. Ernesto Reverchon.