Original Article

Enhancement of oral bioavailability of the poorly water-soluble drug silybin by sodium cholate/phospholipid-mixed micelles

Jiang-nan Yu, Yuan Zhu, Li Wang, Min Peng, Shan-shan Tong, Xia Cao, Hui Qiu, Xi-ming Xu
DOI: 10.1038/aps.2010.55

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate a mixed micellar drug delivery system composed of sodium cholate and phospholipid for oral administration of silybin, a promising hepatoprotectants.
Methods: The optimum formulation of sodium cholate/phospholipid-mixed micelles containing silybin was obtained based on the study of pseudo-ternary phase diagram. The dissolution of silybin-mixed micelles was investigated. The pharmacokinetic characteristics and bioavailability after oral administration of silybin-mixed micelles and silybin-N-methylglucamine were compared in dogs.
Results: The mean particle size of prepared mixed micelles was 75.9±4.2 nm. The largest solubility of silybin was found to be 10.0±1.1 mg/mL in the optimum formulation of mixed micelles. The silybin-sodium cholate/phospholipid-mixed micelles showed a very slow release of silybin 17.5% (w/w) within 72 h in phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) and 15.6% (w/w) in HCl solution (pH 1.2). After oral administration to dogs, the relative bioavailability of mixed micelles versus silybin-N-methylglucamine in dogs was 252.0%.
Conclusion: Sodium cholate/phospholipid-mixed micelles are promising carriers in orally delivery of silybin, considering their capability of enhancing bioavailability and large-scale production.
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