Abstract

In the present study, an attempt was made to develop a nano emulsion formulation containing coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10NE) for solubility enhancement. A three-factor three-level Box Behnken design was chosen as Quality by design (QbD) approach to get optimized nano emulsion formulation. Nano emulsion was prepared by blending with high-energy ultrasonication method using Soyabean oil, and Soya lecithin as oil phase, and tween 20 as surfactant. Oil, surfactant, and sonication time was considered as loose independent variables. The optimized independent variables were lipid concentration (12.5%), surfactant concentration (1%), and sonication time (3min). The characteristics of the prepared formulation were found to be very close to the generated formula in terms of particle size (80.9nm), poly-dispersibility index (PDI) (0.198), furthermore, CoQ10NE showed characteristic scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscopy images which depicts smooth and spherical surface of the CoQ10NE droplets and were in accordance with particle size determination. The particle size, PDI, peak melting temperature, and enthalpy (Delta H) of optimized formulation was found to be 80.9mm, 0.192, 49.858 °C, and 16.041(J/g) respectively. Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) study indicated that the absorption of F2 (Rhodamine loaded nano emulsion) from the rat intestinal tissue was considerably higher than that of control (F1, Rhodamine solution). Pharmacokinetic profile of optimized CoQ10NE formulation was found to be AUC0-48 (mg.h/ml) 237.63, AUC0-α (mg.h/ml) 261.40, Cmax (mg/ml) 76.98, TMax 4 hours, K (hr-1) 0.231. The lipid peroxides were measured in the terms of malonaldehyde formed in the assay. It was observed that coenzyme Q10 nano emulsion significantly reduced the levels of malonaldehyde when compared to pure drug suspension administration. Further the histopathological evaluation showed that animal group treated with CoQ10NE formulation completely reversed to normal cellular anatomy as compared to the drug suspension group which showed only mild restoration. Thus, the designed coenzyme Q10 loaded nano emulsion showed enhanced antioxidant properties of coenzyme Q10.

Keywords: Coenzyme Q10; Nano emulsion; Bioavailability; Antioxidant; Box behnken design