Epikuron 145 5

NLCs’ formulations were prepared by hot, high-shear homogenization, following the procedure and composition previously optimized in our laboratory through Artificial Intelligence tools [19 (link)]. Oleic acid and Precirol^® ATO 5 (Gattefossé, Saint-Priest, France) were used as liquid and solid lipid, respectively, while Epikuron^® 145V (Cargill, Wayzata, MA, USA) and Tween^® 80 (Sigma Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) were employed as emulsifiers. Briefly, an oil phase (300 mg), composed by a 75:25 ratio of liquid:solid lipid, was melted at 80 °C. Then, an aqueous phase (10 mL), comprising Epikuron^® 145V (Cargill, Wayzata, MA, USA) (0.5% w/w regarding oil phase) and Tween^® 80 (Sigma Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) (1.9% w/v regarding aqueous phase), was also heated at 80 °C and added to the oil phase. The mixture was hot, high-shear homogenized at 14,800 rpm for 10 min using an Ultra-Turrax T25 (IKA Labortechnik, Staufen, Germany), leading to a NLC dispersion, which was cooled in an ice bath for 2 min with gentle stirring.
Furthermore, to remove the non-incorporated components, nanoparticle dispersions were dialyzed overnight using a porous membrane (Spectrum™ Labs Spectra/Por, MWCO 3.5 KDa) (Sigma Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA). The particle size and surface charge of the NLCs were characterized as indicated below.

Curcumin (from curcuma longa, CAS# 458-37-7, purity 75%, product number C1386, Sigma-Aldrich, Burlington, MA, USA), low-molecular-weight chitosan (CAS# 9012-76-4, 84% deacetylation, 94 cps, product number 448869, Sigma-Aldrich, USA), Miglyol 812 (neutral oil formed by esterification of caprylic fatty acids, CAS# 73398-61-5, 57.2% of C8 fatty acids and 42.4% of C10 fatty acids, Sasol, Houston, TX, USA), Epikuron 145 V (soy lecithin fraction enriched with phosphatidylcholine, CAS 8002-43-5, ≥97% phospholipids, Cargill, Düsseldorf, Germany), acetone, and ethanol were from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany).