Physico-chemical characterization of polyethylene glycol- conjugated betulinic acid
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Date
Authors
Mvango, Sindisiwe
Mthimkhulu, Nompumelelo
Fru, Pascaline Nanga
Pilcher, Lynne A.
Balogun, Mohammed O.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
American Institute of Physics
Abstract
Betulinic acid (BA) is a naturally occurring plant pentacyclic triterpenoid with activity against cancer and infectious diseases like malaria and AIDS. Its pharmacological activity is limited by low aqueous solubility and bioavailability. Attempts have been made to improve the solubility of BA by conjugation to the water-soluble polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG) but with very limited physico-chemical characterizations. This work presents physico-chemical characterizations of a PEG-BA conjugate using H NMR spectroscopy, electron microscopy, DLS and XRD. The NMR data showed successful conjugation through the formation of an amide bond with a 5% drug loading although the appearance of some chemical shift signals were solvent-dependent. TEM images showed a spherical morphology of the conjugate with average diameter of 59.58±4.47 nm.
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Keywords
Pentacyclic triterpenoid, Herbal medicine, Remedy, Infectious diseases, Betulinic acid (BA), Bioavailability, Solubility, Polyethylene glycol (PEG), Electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
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Citation
Mvango, S., Mthimkhulu, N., Fru, P.N. et al. Physico-chemical characterization of polyethylene glycol- conjugated betulinic acid. AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 2289, art. 020039, pp. 1-5 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0028479.