Calcium alginate particles for prolonged release of nanoemulsions of hydrophobic drugs.

Catarina Diniz – Research fellow an PhD Student, RISE-Health, Department of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior; Alexandra Jorge – Student of the Integrated Maste's degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences, RISE-Health, Department of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior; Sara Meirinho – Research fellow, RISE-Health, Department of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior; Liliana Pinto – Student of the Maste's degree in Biochemistry, University of Beira Interior

Introduction:

Nanoemulsions (NE) improve drugs stability and bioavailability through several administration routes by providing solubilization, protection from physiological degradation and facilitating permeation, but do not ensure prolonged drug release [1,2]. Recently, we reported an innovative NE produced by low energy with extreme homogeneity, despite the low percentage of hydrophilic surfactants [2,3].  Envisioning a prolonged release of our NE containing lipophilic drugs, we sought the development of a promising strategy based on the encapsulation of the NE in calcium alginate particles [3].