TY - JOUR
T1 - Continuous Microfluidic Production of Citrem-Phosphatidylcholine Nano-Self-Assemblies for Thymoquinone Delivery
AU - Ilhan-Aysigi, Esra
AU - Ghazal, Aghiad
AU - Sartori, Barbara
AU - Dimaki, Maria
AU - Svendsen, Winnie Edith
AU - Yesil-Celiktas, Ozlem
AU - Yaghmur, Anan
PY - 2021/6/24
Y1 - 2021/6/24
N2 - Lamellar and non‐lamellar liquid crystalline nanodispersions, including liposomes, cubo-somes, and hexosomes are attractive platforms for drug delivery, bio‐imaging, and related pharmaceutical applications. As compared to liposomes, there is a modest number of reports on the continuous production of cubosomes and hexosomes. Using a binary lipid mixture of citrem and soy phosphatidylcholine (SPC), we describe the continuous production of nanocarriers for delivering thymoquinone (TQ, a substance with various therapeutic potentials) by employing a commercial microfluidic hydrodynamic flow‐focusing chip. In this study, nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and synchrotron small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) were employed to characterize TQ‐free and TQ‐loaded citrem/SPC nanodispersions. Microfluidic synthesis led to formation of TQ‐free and TQ-loaded nanoparticles with mean sizes around 115 and 124 nm, and NTA findings indicated comparable nanoparticle size distributions in these nanodispersions. Despite the attractiveness of the mi-crofluidic chip for continuous production of citrem/SPC nano‐self‐assemblies, it was not efficient as comparable mean nanoparticle sizes were obtained on employing a batch (discontinuous) method based on low‐energy emulsification method. SAXS results indicated the formation of a biphasic feature of swollen lamellar (Lα) phase in coexistence with an inverse bicontinuous cubic Pn3m phase in all continuously produced TQ‐free and TQ‐loaded nanodispersions. Further, a set of SAXS experiments were conducted on samples prepared using the batch method for gaining further insight into the effects of ethanol and TQ concentration on the structural features of citrem/SPC nano‐self-assemblies. We discuss these effects and comment on the need to introduce efficient microfluidic platforms for producing nanocarriers for delivering TQ and other therapeutic agents.
AB - Lamellar and non‐lamellar liquid crystalline nanodispersions, including liposomes, cubo-somes, and hexosomes are attractive platforms for drug delivery, bio‐imaging, and related pharmaceutical applications. As compared to liposomes, there is a modest number of reports on the continuous production of cubosomes and hexosomes. Using a binary lipid mixture of citrem and soy phosphatidylcholine (SPC), we describe the continuous production of nanocarriers for delivering thymoquinone (TQ, a substance with various therapeutic potentials) by employing a commercial microfluidic hydrodynamic flow‐focusing chip. In this study, nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and synchrotron small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) were employed to characterize TQ‐free and TQ‐loaded citrem/SPC nanodispersions. Microfluidic synthesis led to formation of TQ‐free and TQ-loaded nanoparticles with mean sizes around 115 and 124 nm, and NTA findings indicated comparable nanoparticle size distributions in these nanodispersions. Despite the attractiveness of the mi-crofluidic chip for continuous production of citrem/SPC nano‐self‐assemblies, it was not efficient as comparable mean nanoparticle sizes were obtained on employing a batch (discontinuous) method based on low‐energy emulsification method. SAXS results indicated the formation of a biphasic feature of swollen lamellar (Lα) phase in coexistence with an inverse bicontinuous cubic Pn3m phase in all continuously produced TQ‐free and TQ‐loaded nanodispersions. Further, a set of SAXS experiments were conducted on samples prepared using the batch method for gaining further insight into the effects of ethanol and TQ concentration on the structural features of citrem/SPC nano‐self-assemblies. We discuss these effects and comment on the need to introduce efficient microfluidic platforms for producing nanocarriers for delivering TQ and other therapeutic agents.
KW - thymoquinone
KW - inverse bicontinuous cubic Pn3m phase
KW - microfluidics
KW - nanoparticle tracking analysis
KW - synchrotron small-angle scattering
KW - Synchrotron small‐angle scattering
KW - Inverse bicontinuous cubic Pn3m phase
KW - Thymoquinone
KW - Nanoparticle tracking analysis
KW - Microfluidics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85107309260&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11061510
DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11061510
M3 - Article
SN - 2079-4991
VL - 11
JO - Nanomaterials
JF - Nanomaterials
IS - 6
M1 - 1510
ER -