Enhanced Solubility and Bioavailability of Apigenin via Preparation of Solid Dispersions of Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles

In this study, a novel mesoporous silica nanoparticles drug carrier contributes to improving the solubility, dissolution, and the oral bioavailability of apigenin (AP). The apigenin of solid dispersion of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (AP-MSN) was prepared by physical absorption method and also, in-vitro drug release and in-vivo bioavailability performance were evaluated. Based on its solubility, the AP-MSN solid dispersion was prepared at the weight ratio of 1:1 to obtain the optimum solubility. The loading efficiency (LE), encapsulation efficiency (EE), and solubility of AP-MSN solid dispersion were 29.71%, 42.27%, and 25.11 µg/mL, respectively. SEM, TEM, BET, FTIR, XRD, DSC, and TG were also carried out. These results demonstrated that AP was good absorbed into the pores of MSN through physical absorption effect of MSN. The DMF residues of AP-MSN solid dispersion meet the ICH requirements. It was vital that the AP-MSN solid dispersion behaved well in-vitro and the accumulative release of AP-MSN solid dispersion was 2.37 times higher than that of raw AP. In-vivo study, the AP area under curve(0-t) was 8.32 times higher for the AP-MSN solid dispersion than that of raw AP, which indicated that the bioavailability of AP-MSN solid dispersion was greatly improved. Therefore, the prepared AP-MSN solid dispersion presents potential as a novel oral therapeutic agent formulation for clinical application.