Preparation, characterization, in vitro drug release and anti-inflammatory of thymoquinone-loaded chitosan nanocomposite

Mothanna Sadiq Al-Qubaisi; Ashwaq Shakir Al-Abboodi; Fatah H Alhassan; Samer Hussein-Al-Ali; Moayad Husein Flaifel; Eltayeb E M Eid; Hussah Abdullah Alshwyeh; Mohd Zobir Hussein; Sulaiman Mohammed Alnasser; Mohammed Ibrahim Saeed; Abdullah Rasedee; Wisam Nabeel Ibrahim

doi:10.1016/j.jsps.2022.02.002

Preparation, characterization, in vitro drug release and anti-inflammatory of thymoquinone-loaded chitosan nanocomposite

Saudi Pharm J. 2022 Apr;30(4):347-358. doi: 10.1016/j.jsps.2022.02.002. Epub 2022 Feb 7.

Authors

Mothanna Sadiq Al-Qubaisi¹, Ashwaq Shakir Al-Abboodi², Fatah H Alhassan³, Samer Hussein-Al-Ali⁴, Moayad Husein Flaifel^{5

6}, Eltayeb E M Eid⁷, Hussah Abdullah Alshwyeh^{6

8}, Mohd Zobir Hussein⁹, Sulaiman Mohammed Alnasser¹⁰, Mohammed Ibrahim Saeed¹¹, Abdullah Rasedee^{1

12}, Wisam Nabeel Ibrahim^{13

14}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
² Basic Science Branch, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Al-Qadisiyah, Al-Diwaniyah, Iraq.
³ Department of Applied Chemistry and Technology, College of Science and Arts, Alkamel University of Jeddah, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Faculty of Pharmacy, Isra University, Amman 11622, Jordan.
⁵ Department of Physics, College of Science, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Basic & Applied Scientific Research Center, College of Science, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, Unaizah College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Biology, College of Science, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
¹⁰ Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Unaizah College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia.
¹¹ Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences, National Ribat University, Khartoum 11111, Sudan.
¹² Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
¹³ Department of Biomedical Science, College of Health Sciences, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
¹⁴ Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research Unit, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.

Abstract

In this study, we formulated Thymoquinone-loaded nanocomposites (TQ-NCs) using high-pressure homogenizer without sodium tripolyphosphate. The TQ-NCs were characterized and their anti-inflammatory determined by the response of the LPS-stimulated macrophage RAW 264.7 cells in the production of nitric oxide, prostaglandin E2, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and interleukin-1β. The physicochemical properties of TQ-NC were determined using different machines. TQ was fully incorporated in the highly thermal stable nanoparticles. The nanoparticles showed rapid release of TQ in the acidic medium of the gastric juice. In medium of pH 6.8, TQ-NC exhibited sustained release of TQ over a period of 100 h. The results suggest that TQ-NC nanoparticles have potential application as parenterally administered therapeutic compound. TQ-NC effectively reduce production of inflammatory cytokines by the LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells, indicating that they have anti-inflammatory properties. In conclusion, TQ-NC nanoparticles have the characteristics of efficient carrier for TQ and an effective anti-inflammatory therapeutic compound.

Keywords: Drug release; High-pressure homogenizer; Inflammatory mediators; Nanocomposite; RAW 264.7 cells; Thymoquinone.