Nanoengineering and Kinetic Transport Analysis of PEGylated CS Niosomes for Controlled Galantamine Delivery
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Abstract
The present study investigates the kinetic and transport behavior of polyethylene Glycol–Chitosan (CS) modified Nano-Niosomal carriers for controlled Galantamine Hydrobromide (GH) delivery in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) therapy. Polyethylene Glycolated (PEGylated) CS-coated Nano-Niosomes were successfully fabricated using Span 60 and Cholesterol through the thin-film hydration method followed by sonication. The developed nano formulation was physicochemically characterized in terms of particle size, Polydispersity Index (PDI), zeta potential, Encapsulation Efficiency (EE), permeability stability, in vitro drug release behavior, and release Kinetics. The optimized PEG-CS-GH-NIO formulation exhibited a nanoscale particle size of approximately 111.6 nm with a low PDI value of 0.11, confirming the formation of uniformly distributed Nano-Niosomal carriers. The formulation demonstrated a high EE of 98.73% and low permeability during refrigerated storage, indicating enhanced vesicular integrity and effective drug retention. In vitro release studies revealed a biphasic release profile consisting of an initial burst release phase followed by a sustained release phase over 270 min. Mathematical modeling using zero-order, first-order, Higuchi, and Korsmeyer–Peppas equations showed that the zero-order model provided the best correlation coefficient (R² = 0.9973), indicating a nearly concentration-independent controlled release mechanism. Furthermore, the release exponent obtained from the Korsmeyer–Peppas model indicated super-case II transport behavior, suggesting that polymer relaxation, swelling, and structural rearrangement of the PEG-CS network significantly contributed to galantamine release. Overall, the findings demonstrate that PEGylated CS nano-niosomes represent a promising nanocarrier platform for sustained galantamine delivery and may provide potential advantages for future AD therapeutic strategies.
Keywords
Niosome Galantamine hydrobromide Drug release kinetics PEGylation Glycol–Chitosan Controlled releaseReferences (22)
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