OPTIMIZATION, CHARACTERIZATION AND PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF BERBERINE LOADED NANOPARTICLES – AN APPROACH TO IMPROVE THE EFFICACY OF ANTICONVULSANT AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY

Berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid that has better anticonvulsant and antioxidant activities, results in less efficacy due to poor solubility, poor permeability, poor stability and poor drug delivery to the brain. Hence, this study aim at improving Anticonvulsant and Antioxidant activities of Berberine by formulating nanoparticles with three-factor two-level boxbehnken with design expert software 6.1. In this study, the particle size and drug release percentage were considered as dependent variables, whereas the concentration of HPMC, PEG and Sonication time was considered as independent variables. Similarly, sodium caprate was separately optimized by Franz diffusion study to enhance the permeability, and thus nanoparticles were formulated with solvent evaporation method. Prepared nanoparticles were characterized and evaluated. FTIR, DSC and the Computer-based drug interaction revealed that drug encapsulated with HPMC and PEG was compatible with each other. Developed nanoparticles were found to be below 500nm. Zeta potential of nanoparticles was -35.9mV which indicated that the nanoparticles were stable; MES study, Rotarod study, and biochemical study results revealed that the anticonvulsant activity and antioxidant activity were improved in the optimized nanoparticles rather than the pure drug. Thus the overall result showed that the optimized nanoparticles act as a better candidate with improved efficacy.