Preparation and evaluation of a microemulsion for oral delivery of berberine

The principal aim of this study was to develop an oral microemulsion formulation of berberine in order to improve its bioavailability. The Microemulsion was prepared with pharmaceutically acceptable ingredients such as oleic acid, Tween 80 and PEG400. Phase diagrams were drawn to elucidate the phase behavior of systems, which were composed of Tween 80 as surfactant and PEG400 as cosurfactant. A single isotropic region, considered to be a bicontinuous microemulsion, was detected in the pseudo ternary phase diagrams. The berberine-loaded microemulsion was characterized by viscosity, refractive index, electrical conductivity and particle size. In vivo pharmacokinetic profile and oral bioavailability were also investigated in rats. The optimized formulation was as follows: 15 wt.% oleic acid, 17 wt.% Tween-80, 17 wt.% PEG400, and 51 wt.% water. The formulated microemulsion was found to be relatively uniform in size (24.0 nm). The in vivo study indicated that the bioavailability of the oral berberine-loaded microemulsion formulation was 6.47 times greater than that of the berberine tablet suspensions. The results suggest that the microemulsion is a promising oral drug delivery system for berberine.