Preparation and Characterization of Solid Lipid Nanoparticles of Antimalarial Drug Arteether for Oral Administration

Arteether (ART) is one of the effective antimalarial drugs which is derived from artemisinin. The objective of our work was to develop solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) which can be given orally as ART is only available as an intramuscular injection. The preparation of SLN has been carried out using high pressure homogenization (HPH) technique. ART-loaded SLN (ART-SLN) could be produced reproducibly with homogeneous particle size. The characterized of ART-SLN for its particle size and zeta potential have been carried out using Zetasizer Nano-ZS, Malvern, UK and High resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR-TEM). The results of characterization studies strongly support the potential application of ART-SLNs as a carrier system. The entrapment efficiency was estimated using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The lowest diameter and zeta potential has been found in F-3 which were 97 +/- 8.23 nm and -27.4 +/- 3.1 mV, respectively, with 69 +/- 4.3% entrapment efficiency of ART. No toxicity against J774A.1 cells were observed for blank SLN revealing the safety of the lipid and the surfactant used. In conclusion, SLN can be a promising approach for the oral administration of ART suited for antimalarial therapy.