Lipid nanocapsules, preparation process and use as medicine
AssigneesUniversite D'Angers, Ethypharm
InventorsBeatrice Heurtault, Patrick Saulnier, Jean-Pierre Benoit, Jacques-Emile Proust, Brigitte Pech, Joel Richard
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Abstract
The invention concerns nanocapsules, in particular with an average size less than 50 nm, consisting of an essentially lipid core liquid or semiliquid at room temperature, coated with an essentially lipid film solid at room temperature having a thickness of 2-10 nm. The invention also concerns a method for preparing same which consists in producing a reverse phase of an aqueous emulsion brought about by several temperature raising and lowering cycles. Said lipid nanocapsules are particularly designed for producing a medicine.
Claims21
Nanocapsules with an average size of less than 150 nm, preferably less than 100 nm and more preferably less than 50 nm, consisting of an essentially lipid core that is liquid or semiliquid at room temperature, coated with an essentially lipid film that is solid at room temperature.
A process for preparing nanocapsules, which involves the operations consisting in:
- a) preparing an oil/water emulsion containing an oily fatty phase, a nonionic hydrophilic surfactant, a lipophilic surfactant that is solid at 20° C. and optionally a pharmaceutically active principle that is soluble or dispersible in the oily fatty phase, or a pharmaceutically active principle that is soluble or dispersible in the aqueous phase,
- bringing about the phase inversion of said oil/water emulsion by increasing the temperature up to a temperature T2 above the phase inversion temperature (PIT) to obtain a water/oil emulsion, followed by a reduction in the temperature down to a temperature T1, T1<PIT <T2,
- carrying out at least one or more temperature cycles around the phase inversion zone between T1 and T2, until a translucent suspension is observed,
- b) quenching the oil/water emulsion at a temperature in the region of T1, preferably greater than T1, to obtain stable nanocapsules.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.