Evidence mapPaperPMID 41309759Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

Lipid nanocapsule-chitosan and iota-carrageenan hydrogel composite for sustained hydrophobic drug delivery.

Grady K Mukubwa, Justin B Safari, Zikhona N Tetana, Caroline N Jones, Roderick B Walker, Rui W M Krause

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Grady K MukubwaDepartment of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown, 6140, Eastern Cape, South Africa. grady.mukubwa@utdallas.edu.
Justin B SafariDepartment of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown, 6140, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Zikhona N TetanaDST/NRF Center of Excellence in Strong Materials and Molecular Sciences Institute, School of Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag X3, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa.
Caroline N JonesDepartment of Bioengineering, Erick Johnson School of Engineering and Computer Science, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, 75083, USA. caroline.jones@utdallas.edu.
Roderick B WalkerDepartment of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown, 6140, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Rui W M KrauseDepartment of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown, 6140, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Funding

Microsystems to Decipher Leukocyte Decision-MakingR35GM133610 · NIGMS · VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV · PI JONES, CAROLINE N. · 2019 to 2023
$1.8M
National Research Foundation 141979NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM133610
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Hydrophobic drug delivery via oral routes presents significant challenges for clinical translation, particularly for poorly soluble antiviral drugs. Physiological barriers, such as enzymatic degradation, harsh pH, and rapid transit in the gastrointestinal tract, or mucociliary clearance and alveolar macrophage uptake in the lungs, can severely limit therapeutic efficacy. To address these challenges, we developed a novel lipid nanocapsule (LNC) and chitosan/iota-carrageenan hydrogel composite tailored for sustained delivery of hydrophobic antiviral agents. A rational, data-driven approach was employed, using Design-Expert software to construct an I-optimal mixture design for hydrogel composition optimization and a customized D-optimal design for EFV encapsulation modeling. These predictive models enabled selection of an optimized hydrogel formulation with high swelling capacity and an EFV loading strategy with maximized encapsulation efficiency, which were confirmed experimentally. EFV was first encapsulated in LNCs, which were subsequently embedded within a mucoadhesive hydrogel matrix to form the EFV-LNC hydrogel composite. The LNCs significantly enhanced EFV solubility compared to water alone (p < 0.0001), and droplet size was controlled (57.4 ± 0.5 nm). The hydrogel composite exhibited an optimized swelling ratio (~ 300 g water per 1 g hydrogel) and achieved an encapsulation efficiency of approximately 53%. Importantly, EFV release from the composite was significantly prolonged under two physiologically relevant pH conditions compared to the unformulated drug (p < 0.0001). Preliminary cytotoxicity assays using HeLa cells suggest that the composite is not acutely cytotoxic under the tested conditions, supporting its potential for further safety evaluation in gastrointestinal-relevant models. Together, these results illustrate how statistical design of experiments can be effectively combined with nanocarrier-hydrogel engineering to rationally optimize formulation performance. These findings suggest that the LNC-hydrogel composite enhances solubility, enables controlled release, and may improve mucosal retention, supporting its utility as a versatile platform for oral delivery of hydrophobic antiviral drugs.

Indexed as

CarrageenanChitosanDrug Delivery SystemsHydrogelsLipidsNanocapsulesAntiviral AgentsDelayed-Action PreparationsHumansHydrophobic and Hydrophilic InteractionsSolubilityAntiviral AgentsCarrageenanChitosanDelayed-Action PreparationsHydrogelsLipidsNanocapsulesChitosanDrug deliveryHydrogelIota-carrageenanLipid nanocapsulesSynergistic use

Identifiers

PMID41309759
PMCPMC12660326

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.