Dopamine-functionalized pectin-based Pickering emulsion as an oral drug delivery system

Pickering emulsions can be utilized to improve the usage efficiency of water-insoluble drugs as oral drug delivery systems. The present study showed a series of dopamine-functionalized pectin-based Pickering emulsions for anti-inflammatory medication. The dopamine functionalization induced significant differences in wettability, zeta potential, particle size, and PDI value compared with the oxidized pectin. The resultant Pickering emulsions consequently had excellent stability and could be stored for 30 days. Moreover, the morphology of the dried Pickering emulsions was all nano-scale spherical particles. Indomethacin (IND) was used as a water-insoluble drug model. The resultant Pickering emulsion-based drug delivery system showed persistent release of IND for more than 12 h, high pH-responsiveness, and biocompatibility. All the results manifested the excellent potential of dopamine-functionalized pectin-based Pickering emulsions in drug delivery applications. The present work also provided a new approach to preparing Pickering emulsions from modified anionic polysaccharides for delivering the water-insoluble drugs.

Automated summary

This study utilized dopamine-functionalized pectin-based Pickering emulsions for anti-inflammatory medication. The dopamine functionalization induced significant differences in wettability, zeta potential, particle size, and PDI value compared with the oxidized pectin. The resultant Pickering emulsions showed excellent stability, stored well for 30 days, and had nano-scale spherical particles when dried.