Encapsulation of Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical Active Ingredients Using Electrospinning Processes

Abstract

Electrospinning is an inexpensive and powerful method that employs a polymer solution and strong electric field to produce nanofibers. These can be applied in diverse biological and medical applications. Due to their large surface area, controllable surface functionalization and properties, and typically high biocompatibility electrospun nanofibers are recognized as promising materials for the manufacturing of drug delivery systems. Electrospinning offers the potential to formulate poorly soluble drugs as amorphous solid dispersions to improve solubility, bioavailability and targeting of drug release. It is also a successful strategy for the encapsulation of nutraceuticals. This review aims to briefly discuss the concept of electrospinning and recent progress in manufacturing electrospun drug delivery systems. It will further consider in detail the encapsulation of nutraceuticals, particularly probiotics.

Keywords: electrospinning; encapsulation; nanocarrier; nanofiber; nutraceuticals; probiotics; target drug delivery.

Figure 1

Nanocarriers for drug delivery and their biophysiochemical properties. Many factors are involving in determining their therapeutic potential including size, shape, materials, and surface chemistry.

Figure 2

Schematic of the different routes to drug incorporation into a polymer carrier through electrospinning.

Figure 3

The cross-sections of fibers generated using the various electrospinning approaches.

Figure 4

A schematic for the use of electrospun nanofibers in probiotic delivery. Encapsulation in a polymer matrix can (a) protect the organisms from external stresses and thus maintain viability during manufacturing and storage, (b) protect the probiotics from the bile and stomach acids, and (c) permit dissolution of the formulation and release of viable probiotics at the target site.