Biopolymer–Lipid Hybrid Cubosome for Delivery of Acemannan

In recent decades, the pharmaceutical industry has shown great interest in new products for drug delivery, since studies with drug nanocarriers have evidenced the application potential of these systems. A relatively new strategy for nano-drug delivery is the use of cubosome, which is a nanoparticle with crystalline structure formed by a lipid bilayer created, for instance, with monoolein lipid and Pluronic F127 as a stabilizer. In our studies, we develop a cubosome containing biopolymer shell for the delivery of acemannan as a bioactive extracted from aloe vera, which has immunomodulation properties. The cubosome was produced by using monoolein and Pluronic F127 and adding aqueous solutions of chitosan-N-arginine, alginate and acemannan. The nanoparticles were studied by means of dynamic light scattering, zeta potential and isothermal titration calorimetry to evaluate the thermodynamic interaction of the hybrid cubosomes with liposomes produced with POPG as a model cell membrane in various pH conditions. The encapsulation percentage and delivery profiles of acemannan were further accessed through spectrophotometry. The encapsulation of acemannan was highly effective and delivery was attenuated and sustained, further suggesting the potential of the hybrid cubosome as a bioactive delivery system. The interaction of the hybrid cubosome with liposomes, unveiled by thermodynamic results, was favored in two different pH values (2.5 and 7.4), evidencing that the binding of the hybrid cubosomes with the model membrane presents different physicochemical characteristics depending on pH, which play a role in the enthalpic and entropic contributions during the interaction. Overall, the results indicate the potential of the hybrid cubosomes for oral administration of acemannan.