(584aj) Drug Delivery of Ginsenocides and Polysacharides From North American Ginseng: Immunomodulatory and Angiogenesis Effects

North American ginseng is a medicinal plant used in traditional herbal medicine grown in North America, whose root extracts are being used for commercial over the counter anti-cold formulations such as Cold-FX™. The main components of ginseng are ginsenosides and polysaccharides which provide biological activities such as anti- and pro-inflammatory mediation effects. In this work, development of appropriate delivery systems for oral administration to target colon diseases and bone cements was investigated, with release and bioassay results described. Micro/nanospheres of both ginseng polysaccharide extracts and biodegradable poly (propylene fumarate) (PPF), and poly (DL-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) containing ginsenocide extracts were prepared using a microfluidic device and compared to other conventional anti-solvent techniques. The morphology and size of the carriers was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ZEISS light microscopy, and dynamic light scattering (DLS).  Depending on experimental conditions, microfluidics was found to provide unimodal spheres in the 10-50 um region or down to 20 nm with very narrow particle size distributions. Nanosized extracts were then encapsulated with gelatin, to give 180 nm spheres suitable for integration into capsules for subsequent oral drug delivery. Results showed that the release of ginseng components was controllable with lower initial bursts than those observed with conventional microparticles. Bioassays using murine macrophages were investigated showing significant immunoactivty of extracts while in vivo studies in plasma of rat orally fed with NA ginseng root showed measurable concentrations of polysacharides, and significant immunomodulatory effects. These results show the utility of these materials for next-generation biomedical agents as controlled release devices for capsules and bone cements.