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 1H 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.
Mvango, S., Mthimkhulu, N., Fru, P., Pilcher, L., & Balogun, M. O. (2020). Physico-chemical characterization of polyethylene glycol-conjugated betulinic acid. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/11765
Mvango, Sindisiwe, N Mthimkhulu, PA Fru, LA Pilcher, and Mohammed O Balogun. "Physico-chemical characterization of polyethylene glycol-conjugated betulinic acid." Proceedings of PPS2019 Europe-Africa Regional Conference of the Polymer Processing Society, AIP Conference Proceedings 2289, November 2020 (2020): http://hdl.handle.net/10204/11765
Mvango S, Mthimkhulu N, Fru P, Pilcher L, Balogun MO, Physico-chemical characterization of polyethylene glycol-conjugated betulinic acid; 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/11765 .
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