PEGylated Solanesol for Oral Delivery of Coenzyme Q10

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is widely used in preventive or curative treatment of cardiovascular diseases. However, CoQ10 exhibits an extremely low solubility in aqueous medium as well as a poor oral bioavailability. Therefore, solanesyl poly(ethylene glycol) succinate (SPGS) and CoQ10 were formulated as CoQ10-SPGS micelles with a high content of CoQ10 to improve the bioavailability of CoQ10 in rat. Findings indicate that, in the CoQ10-SPGS micelles, SPGS is self-assembled into stable nanosized micelles with a CoQ10 loading capacity of more than 39%. The CoQ10-SPGS micelles exhibit an enhanced photostability upon exposure to simulated sunlight. In vivo experiments demonstrate that, as compared to that of the coarse suspensions of CoQ10, there was three-fold enhancement of oral bioavailability for CoQ10-loaded SPGS micelles depending on varying molecular weight of SPGS. In the encapsulation of CoQ10 by SPGS micelles, the self-assembled nanocarriers with strong muco-adhesive properties lead to increases in the solubility and oral absorption of lipophilic CoQ10 nanoparticles.