Preparation, Characterization, and Dissolution Rate In Vitro Evaluation of Total Panax Notoginsenoside Nanoparticles, Typical Multicomponent Extracts from Traditional Chinese Medicine, Using Supercritical Antisolvent Process

Abstract EN

Total Panax notoginsenosides nanoparticles, typical multicomponent extracts from traditional Chinese medicine, were prepared with a supercritical antisolvent (SAS) process using ethanol as solvent and carbon dioxide as antisolvent.

The optimum conditions were determined to be as follows: TPNS solution concentration of 2.5 mg/mL, TPNS solution flow rate of 6.6 mL/min, precipitation temperature of 40°C, and precipitation pressure of 20 MPa.

Under the optimum conditions, TPNS nanoparticles with a MPS of 141.5 ± 18.2 nm and total saponins amounts (TSA) of 78.9% were obtained.

The TPNS nanoparticles obtained were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimeters (DSC), and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

The results showed that the chemical and crystal structure of the obtained TPNS nanoparticles has not changed.

Dissolution in vitro studies showed that the solubility and dissolution rate of notoginsenosides R1 and ginsenoside Rb1 in TPNS nanoparticles are higher than these in raw TPNS, with no obvious difference in Rg1.

These results suggest that TPNS nanoparticles can be helpful to the improvement of its bioavailability for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.