(701e) Dual Drug-Loaded Janus Particles for Co-Delivery of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Compounds

The desire for drug delivery systems with tunable properties and multiple functionalities has spawned a new generation of particulate carriers, including Janus particles. Biocompatible Janus particles with internal compartmentalization are attractive as drug delivery vehicles because they offer a platform for co-delivery of two drugs with decoupled release kinetics.

Curcumin (CUR) and quercetin (QCT) were chosen as the model hydrophobic compounds for this study, while acetaminophen (APAP) and naproxen (NPX) were chosen as the model hydrophilic-hydrophobic drug pair. Curcumin and quercetin are bioflavonoids with anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, and immunosuppressive properties used to treat a host of diseases, including multi-drug resistant cancer and arthritis. Acetaminophen and naproxen are often used in combination due to their additive effects in pain management and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

The goal of this work is to obtain dual-loaded Janus particles with a different drug in each compartment, and to determine their encapsulation efficiency and drug content. Hydrophobic drugs are encapsulated by the single O/W emulsion technique. Hydrophilic compounds require special modifications for co-encapsulation with hydrophobic drugs due to their poor oil solubility and tendency to escape to the outer aqueous phase during the emulsification and solvent evaporation steps. Three different strategies for incorporating hydrophilic drugs were employed: 1) O/W emulsion with partially-water miscible solvent, 2) O/W emulsion with co-solvent (i.e., acetone, methanol, ethanol), or 3) W/O/W double emulsion. The encapsulation efficiencies and drug loading percentages are measured using UV/Vis spectroscopy and compared for the different synthesis methods.