Chitosan-Based Polymeric Lipid Nanocapsules Loaded with Cannabis sativa L. Extract: Influence of Lipid Core Composition on Physicochemical Stability and Preliminary Anti-Chikungunya Virus Activity
4 affiliations
- 1Unidad de Investigaciones y Desarrollo en Tecnología Farmacéutica (UNITEFA) CONICET, Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, X5000 Córdoba, Argentina
- 2Instituto de Virología “Dr. José María Vanella” (InViV), Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, X5000 Córdoba, Argentina
- 3Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), C1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
- 4Unidad de Estudios Agropecuarios (UDEA) (INTA-CONICET), Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales (IFRGV), X5020 Córdoba, Argentina
Abstract
Cannabidiol (CBD), the main non-intoxicating phytocannabinoid of Cannabis sativa, is highly lipophilic and poorly water-soluble. We developed chitosan-coated lipid nanocapsules (NCs) loaded with a CBD-rich Cannabis sativa ethanolic extract (CEE), using medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil or olive oil as the lipid core and optimizing them with a Box–Behnken design; oil and Tween® 80 volumes mainly determined hydrodynamic diameter and polydispersity. The optimized MCT oil and olive oil NCs had hydrodynamic diameters of 206.9 and 231.2 nm, PDI values of 0.130 and 0.196, zeta potentials of about +31 and +33 mV, and CBD encapsulation efficiencies above 85%. ATR-FTIR suggested different lipid organization and CBD environments in each core, while confocal microscopy located the CBD-reactive signal in the oil phase without resolving the core from the interface. MCT oil NCs retained more CBD at room temperature, but differences under other conditions were small, and the extract dissolved in the same oils behaved similarly, indicating a major contribution of the oil vehicle. Both NCs retained CBD between pH 5.5 and 7.4 and could be redispersed after freeze-drying. In a preliminary chikungunya virus assay, CEE-loaded NCs inhibited the cytopathic effect by 34–45% at non-cytotoxic concentrations, but free CEE in oil was at least as active.
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BibTeX
@article{romano2026chitosanbased,
title = {{Chitosan-Based Polymeric Lipid Nanocapsules Loaded with Cannabis sativa L. Extract: Influence of Lipid Core Composition on Physicochemical Stability and Preliminary Anti-Chikungunya Virus Activity}},
author = {Luka Romano and Brenda Salome Konigheim and Juan Javier Aguilar and Esteban Martin Schenfeld and Mariana Quiroga and Marcelo Helguera and Gladys Ester Granero and Renée Onnainty},
journal = {Polymers},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/polym18212701},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2701},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Chitosan-Based Polymeric Lipid Nanocapsules Loaded with Cannabis sativa L. Extract: Influence of Lipid Core Composition on Physicochemical Stability and Preliminary Anti-Chikungunya Virus Activity
AU - Luka Romano
AU - Brenda Salome Konigheim
AU - Juan Javier Aguilar
AU - Esteban Martin Schenfeld
AU - Mariana Quiroga
AU - Marcelo Helguera
AU - Gladys Ester Granero
AU - Renée Onnainty
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/31
JO - Polymers
DO - 10.3390/polym18212701
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2701
AB - Cannabidiol (CBD), the main non-intoxicating phytocannabinoid of Cannabis sativa, is highly lipophilic and poorly water-soluble. We developed chitosan-coated lipid nanocapsules (NCs) loaded with a CBD-rich Cannabis sativa ethanolic extract (CEE), using medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil or olive oil as the lipid core and optimizing them with a Box–Behnken design; oil and Tween® 80 volumes mainly determined hydrodynamic diameter and polydispersity. The optimized MCT oil and olive oil NCs had hydrodynamic diameters of 206.9 and 231.2 nm, PDI values of 0.130 and 0.196, zeta potentials of about +31 and +33 mV, and CBD encapsulation efficiencies above 85%. ATR-FTIR suggested different lipid organization and CBD environments in each core, while confocal microscopy located the CBD-reactive signal in the oil phase without resolving the core from the interface. MCT oil NCs retained more CBD at room temperature, but differences under other conditions were small, and the extract dissolved in the same oils behaved similarly, indicating a major contribution of the oil vehicle. Both NCs retained CBD between pH 5.5 and 7.4 and could be redispersed after freeze-drying. In a preliminary chikungunya virus assay, CEE-loaded NCs inhibited the cytopathic effect by 34–45% at non-cytotoxic concentrations, but free CEE in oil was at least as active.
SN - 2073-4360
ER -