Pore confinement and surface charge effects in protein-mesoporous silica nanoparticles formulation for oral drug delivery

The recent pharmaceutical interest toward confinement effects on the physical state, solubility and release of drugs has paved the way to new material designs for drug delivery. Deeper understanding on how the pore size or the additional functionalities of the nanocarriers can influence the bioavailability of the cargo is nonetheless needed to explore further the potential of nanocarriers in this area. Through the combination of pure or amino-functionalized MCM-48-type mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) and succinylated beta-lactoglobulin as a protein excipient, we developed versatile tablets for the oral delivery of resveratrol and omeprazole. pH-gating properties of the protein excipient refrained resveratrol from elution in simulated gastric fluid and, owing to effective nanopore confinement, an increased release in simulated intestinal conditions was successfully achieved. Specific effects of positively charged MCM-48-type nanoparticles on the stability of the protein tablets were encountered and appeared to be drug dependent.