Formulation and Evaluation of Nano-particles Loaded with Salvia miltiorriza by Homogenization Method
Authors: Barman Moumita , Gaur Praveen Kumar , Nagpal Dheeraj 
Published: September 2024

Aims:
The aim of the present study is to formulate and evaluate the Salvia miltorrhizaloaded
Nano-structured lipid carriers(SM-NLC) in order to enhance the aqueous solubility and bioavailability
as the efficacy of Salvia miltiorriza extract has been restricted due to less solubility and
low bioavailability.

Introduction:
Salvia miltiorrhiza is a well-known Chinese herb that belongs to the family Labiatae.
The herb has been widely used to treat various kinds of ailments, and its main phytochemical constituents
are Tanshinone I, Tanshinone II, Miltirone, and Salvionolic acid, which are mainly found in
the extract of roots. These Phytochemical constituents are responsible for several pharmacological
activities such as anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular
diseases etc.

Objective:
Nano-lipid carriers are useful in enhancing the solubility of poor water-soluble drugs. The
faulty lattice arrangement of Nano-lipid carriers (NLC) provides better entrapment, thus providing
more space for the drug to incorporate in the lattice structure of NLC, improving the stability of the
formulation and preventing the drug leakage from the matrix.

Methods:
SM-NLCs were prepared by using oleic acid and stearic acid as liquid and solid lipids,
respectively and tween 80 as the surfactant by high-speed homogenization method. The optimization
of SM- NLC was performed by applying the Box-Behnken experimental design. The independent
variables were chosen as the amount of lipids, surfactant concentration, and sonication time, whereas
dependent variables were opted as particle size and entrapment efficiency. The influence of different
proportions of the lipids (Stearic acid and Oleic acid) and the surfactant (Tween 80) was analysed on
the dependent variables. The optimized formulation was evaluated for Particle size (241.7nm±3),
Polydispersity index (.249 ±0.05), Zeta Potential (-14.6±5), and entrapment efficiency (82.49%).
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was performed to identify the surface morphology, and the
entrapment of the drug into the nanostructured matrix was verified by Differential Scanning Calorimetry.
The interaction between the formulations was confirmed by performing FTIR. The dialysis
bag method was performed to calculate the in vitro drug release from the optimized formulation.
Additionally, a stability study was performed for 1 month of duration.

Result:
The SM NLCs were successfully formulated based on the Box-Behnken design. Particle size,
PDI, zeta potential, and EE demonstrated less than a 5% difference compared to the predicted value.
The formulations did not show any possible interactions with the lipids. The optimized formulations
were found stable after one month of stability studies.

Conclusion:
The above results confirmed that Salvia miltiorrhiza could be effectively formulated in the form of a nanostructured-lipid carrier system.

:
The formulation and evaluation of nanoparticles have been performed successfully using the homogenization method.