Development and Characterization of Spray-Dried Quercetin-Loaded Nanocomposite Microparticles (Q-nCmP) for the Mitigation of Pulmonary Inflammation

Pulmonary inflammation stimulates the production of reactive oxidative species (ROS) that often initiate chronic pulmonary disorders. Flavonoids are a class of compounds with highly effective ROS-reducing capabilities, and quercetin is a type of flavonoid that has demonstrated a superb ability to mitigate pulmonary inflammation. Unfortunately, quercetin is poorly water-soluble and exhibits low bioavailability, posing challenges in its administration. Therefore, there is a dire need for means to administer quercetin directly to the lungs. Dry powder nanocomposite microparticle (nCmP) formulations show great promise due to their ability to provide targeted delivery of poorly water-soluble drugs to the site of disease. Quercetin-loaded nCmP (Q-nCmP) involve quercetin-loaded nanoparticles (Q-NP) that are encapsulated into microparticles via spray drying. The parent Q-NP dissociate from the Q-nCmP upon deposition in the lungs, delivering the quercetin in a localized and targeted manner. This work aims to characterize Q-nCmP dry powder formulations for their size, homogeneity, antioxidant activity, and aerosol dispersion properties to investigate their potential as a novel pulmonary drug delivery platform. Preliminary results show that Q-NP have significant antioxidant properties comparable to that of unencapsulated quercetin. Future work will determine the aerodynamic properties and drug release profiles of these promising formulations.