Gold Nanoparticles: Tunable Characteristics and Potential for Nasal Drug Delivery

Aida Maaz; Ian Blagbrough; Paul A. De Bank

doi:10.3390/pharmaceutics16050669

Gold Nanoparticles: Tunable Characteristics and Potential for Nasal Drug Delivery

Aida Maaz, Ian Blagbrough, Paul A. De Bank

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

82 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

A general procedure to prepare gold nanourchins (GNUs) via a seed-mediated method was followed using dopamine hydrochloride as a reducing agent and silver nitrate salt (AgNO₃) as a shape-directing agent. The novelty of this study comes from the successful incorporation of the prepared gold urchins as an aqueous suspension in a nasal pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI) formulation and the investigation of their potential for olfactory targeting for direct nose-to-brain drug delivery (NTBDD). The developed pMDI formulation was composed of 0.025% w/w GNUs, 2% w/w Milli-Q water, and 2% w/w EtOH, with the balance of the formulation being HFA134a propellant. Particle integrity and aerosolization performance were examined using an aerosol exposure system, whereas the nasal deposition profile was tested in a sectioned anatomical replica of human nasal airways. The compatibility of the gold dispersion with the nasal epithelial cell line RPMI 2650 was also investigated in this study. Colloidal gold was found to be stable following six-month storage at 4 °C and during the lyophilization process utilizing a pectin matrix for complete re-dispersibility in water. The GNUs were intact and discrete following atomization via a pMDI, and 13% of the delivered particles were detected beyond the nasal valve, the narrowest region in the nasal cavity, out of which 5.6% was recovered from the olfactory region. Moreover, the formulation was found to be compatible with the human nasal epithelium cell line RPMI 2650 and excellent cell viability was observed. The formulated GNU-HFA-based pMDI is a promising approach for intranasal drug delivery, including deposition in the olfactory region, which could be employed for NTBDD applications.

Original language	English
Article number	669
Number of pages	23
Journal	Pharmaceutics
Volume	16
Issue number	5
Early online date	16 May 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics16050669
Publication status	Published - 31 May 2024

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Acknowledgements

We also thank Michael Zachariadis (Material and Chemical Characterisation Facility, University of Bath) for his support with confocal microscopy, and Adam McAleer (School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol) for his support of ICP-OES analysis. This article is based on Chapter 2 of Aida Maaz’s PhD thesis, "Aerosolised Nanoparticles for Nose-to-Brain Drug Delivery (NTBDD)".

Funding

The authors would like to thank the University of Bath and Raymond Schinazi for funding a scholarship for A.M. We thank Robert Price and the scientific team at Nanopharm Ltd. (Cwmbran, UK) for supporting this work by manufacturing the HFA134a-pMDI devices. We also thank Michael Zachariadis (Material and Chemical Characterisation Facility, University of Bath) for his support with confocal microscopy, and Adam McAleer (School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol) for his support of ICP-OES analysis. This article is based on Chapter 2 of Aida Maaz\u2019s PhD thesis, \u201CAerosolised Nanoparticles for Nose-to-Brain Drug Delivery (NTBDD)\u201D []. This research was funded by the University of Bath and Prof. Raymond Schinazi, who provided a scholarship for A.M.

Funders	Funder number
University of Bath and Raymond Schinazi
University of Bath

Keywords

gold nanoparticles
intranasal
nose-to-brain
pMDI
RPMI 2650

Access to Document

10.3390/pharmaceutics16050669Licence: CC BY

pharmaceutics-16-00669Final published version, 7.67 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{a64f729a3c4e42e9aace8b3c23e61dbf,

title = "Gold Nanoparticles: Tunable Characteristics and Potential for Nasal Drug Delivery",

abstract = "A general procedure to prepare gold nanourchins (GNUs) via a seed-mediated method was followed using dopamine hydrochloride as a reducing agent and silver nitrate salt (AgNO3) as a shape-directing agent. The novelty of this study comes from the successful incorporation of the prepared gold urchins as an aqueous suspension in a nasal pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI) formulation and the investigation of their potential for olfactory targeting for direct nose-to-brain drug delivery (NTBDD). The developed pMDI formulation was composed of 0.025% w/w GNUs, 2% w/w Milli-Q water, and 2% w/w EtOH, with the balance of the formulation being HFA134a propellant. Particle integrity and aerosolization performance were examined using an aerosol exposure system, whereas the nasal deposition profile was tested in a sectioned anatomical replica of human nasal airways. The compatibility of the gold dispersion with the nasal epithelial cell line RPMI 2650 was also investigated in this study. Colloidal gold was found to be stable following six-month storage at 4 °C and during the lyophilization process utilizing a pectin matrix for complete re-dispersibility in water. The GNUs were intact and discrete following atomization via a pMDI, and 13% of the delivered particles were detected beyond the nasal valve, the narrowest region in the nasal cavity, out of which 5.6% was recovered from the olfactory region. Moreover, the formulation was found to be compatible with the human nasal epithelium cell line RPMI 2650 and excellent cell viability was observed. The formulated GNU-HFA-based pMDI is a promising approach for intranasal drug delivery, including deposition in the olfactory region, which could be employed for NTBDD applications.",

keywords = "gold nanoparticles, intranasal, nose-to-brain, pMDI, RPMI 2650",

author = "Aida Maaz and Ian Blagbrough and {De Bank}, {Paul A.}",

year = "2024",

month = may,

day = "31",

doi = "10.3390/pharmaceutics16050669",

language = "English",

volume = "16",

journal = "Pharmaceutics",

issn = "1999-4923",

publisher = "MDPI",

number = "5",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Gold Nanoparticles

T2 - Tunable Characteristics and Potential for Nasal Drug Delivery

AU - Maaz, Aida

AU - Blagbrough, Ian

AU - De Bank, Paul A.

PY - 2024/5/31

Y1 - 2024/5/31

N2 - A general procedure to prepare gold nanourchins (GNUs) via a seed-mediated method was followed using dopamine hydrochloride as a reducing agent and silver nitrate salt (AgNO3) as a shape-directing agent. The novelty of this study comes from the successful incorporation of the prepared gold urchins as an aqueous suspension in a nasal pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI) formulation and the investigation of their potential for olfactory targeting for direct nose-to-brain drug delivery (NTBDD). The developed pMDI formulation was composed of 0.025% w/w GNUs, 2% w/w Milli-Q water, and 2% w/w EtOH, with the balance of the formulation being HFA134a propellant. Particle integrity and aerosolization performance were examined using an aerosol exposure system, whereas the nasal deposition profile was tested in a sectioned anatomical replica of human nasal airways. The compatibility of the gold dispersion with the nasal epithelial cell line RPMI 2650 was also investigated in this study. Colloidal gold was found to be stable following six-month storage at 4 °C and during the lyophilization process utilizing a pectin matrix for complete re-dispersibility in water. The GNUs were intact and discrete following atomization via a pMDI, and 13% of the delivered particles were detected beyond the nasal valve, the narrowest region in the nasal cavity, out of which 5.6% was recovered from the olfactory region. Moreover, the formulation was found to be compatible with the human nasal epithelium cell line RPMI 2650 and excellent cell viability was observed. The formulated GNU-HFA-based pMDI is a promising approach for intranasal drug delivery, including deposition in the olfactory region, which could be employed for NTBDD applications.

AB - A general procedure to prepare gold nanourchins (GNUs) via a seed-mediated method was followed using dopamine hydrochloride as a reducing agent and silver nitrate salt (AgNO3) as a shape-directing agent. The novelty of this study comes from the successful incorporation of the prepared gold urchins as an aqueous suspension in a nasal pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI) formulation and the investigation of their potential for olfactory targeting for direct nose-to-brain drug delivery (NTBDD). The developed pMDI formulation was composed of 0.025% w/w GNUs, 2% w/w Milli-Q water, and 2% w/w EtOH, with the balance of the formulation being HFA134a propellant. Particle integrity and aerosolization performance were examined using an aerosol exposure system, whereas the nasal deposition profile was tested in a sectioned anatomical replica of human nasal airways. The compatibility of the gold dispersion with the nasal epithelial cell line RPMI 2650 was also investigated in this study. Colloidal gold was found to be stable following six-month storage at 4 °C and during the lyophilization process utilizing a pectin matrix for complete re-dispersibility in water. The GNUs were intact and discrete following atomization via a pMDI, and 13% of the delivered particles were detected beyond the nasal valve, the narrowest region in the nasal cavity, out of which 5.6% was recovered from the olfactory region. Moreover, the formulation was found to be compatible with the human nasal epithelium cell line RPMI 2650 and excellent cell viability was observed. The formulated GNU-HFA-based pMDI is a promising approach for intranasal drug delivery, including deposition in the olfactory region, which could be employed for NTBDD applications.

KW - gold nanoparticles

KW - intranasal

KW - nose-to-brain

KW - pMDI

KW - RPMI 2650

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85194391581&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/pharmaceutics16050669

DO - 10.3390/pharmaceutics16050669

M3 - Article

SN - 1999-4923

VL - 16

JO - Pharmaceutics

JF - Pharmaceutics

IS - 5

M1 - 669

ER -

Gold Nanoparticles: Tunable Characteristics and Potential for Nasal Drug Delivery

Abstract

Data Availability Statement

Acknowledgements

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope Zeiss LSM-880 with Airyscan and multiphoton laser

Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM)

Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray analyser (EDX) (JEOL JSM-2100PLUS)

Cite this

Gold Nanoparticles: Tunable Characteristics and Potential for Nasal Drug Delivery

Abstract

Data Availability Statement

Acknowledgements

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Equipment

Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope Zeiss LSM-880 with Airyscan and multiphoton laser

Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM)

Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray analyser (EDX) (JEOL JSM-2100PLUS)

Cite this