Berberine loaded nanostructured lipid carrier for Alzheimer's disease: Design, statistical optimization and enhanced in vivo performance

Berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid, is reported for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Despite having substantial therapeutic potential, it exhibits poor absorption, low oral bioavailability and limited penetration in the brain. In this study, berberine-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (Berb-NLCs) were developed by meltemulsification and ultrasonication using Geleol, Miglyol 812 N, Solutol HS 15 as a solid lipid, liquid lipid and surfactant, respectively. The Berb-NLC formulation was statistically optimized by a 32 factorial design in which the effect of surfactant and berberine concentration was assessed on particle size and entrapment efficiency of Berb-NLCs. Optimized Berb-NLCs (Trial-5) exhibited particle size of 186 nm, polydispersity index of 0.108, the zeta potential of -36.86 mV and 88% entrapment efficiency. The in vitro release of berberine from Batch-B5 was 82% in phosphate buffer at the end of 24 h. The comparative results of pharmacodynamic studies involving behavioral assessment by locomotor activity, passive avoidance test, elevated plus maze test and spatial memory assessment by Morris water maze demonstrated improved behavioral parameters in vivo by Berb-NLCs compared to pure berberine in Albino Wistar rats. Thus, berberine-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers have the potential of brain targeting and were effective in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease.