Production of Biopolymeric Microparticles to Improve Cannabigerol Bioavailability

TL;DR

This paper explores using a special technique to create tiny particles that improve the water solubility and absorption of cannabigerol, a compound with therapeutic potential.

Contribution

The novel use of supercritical CO2-assisted atomization to produce CBG nanoparticles in PVP microparticles is presented.

Findings

CBG nanoparticles as small as 105 nm were successfully produced using supercritical CO2-assisted atomization.

Dissolution time of CBG nanoparticles (15 min) was significantly faster than untreated CBG powder (210 min).

Abstract

Cannabigerol’s (CBG) therapeutic effects are limited by its poor water solubility and low dissolution rate. To improve these properties, supercritical CO2-assisted atomization (SAA) was applied to produce coprecipitates, i.e., CBG nanoparticles coprecipitated in polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) microparticles. The experiments were performed by varying the CBG/PVP mass ratio (R) and the overall concentration of solutes CBG+PVP to study the influence of these parameters on particle morphology, particle size, and size distribution. Periodic dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis was performed at regular time intervals to measure the size of CBG nanoparticles in PVP microparticles. It showed that CBG nanoparticles down to 105 nm were successfully produced through SAA. Dissolution tests were used to verify that a reduction of CBG particle size significantly increased its dissolution rate. In the liquid medium adopted, untreated CBG powder was released in 210 min, whereas CBG nanoparticles of 105 nm were completely dissolved in only 15 min.

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