Fabrication of pyrroloquinoline quinone-loaded small unilamellar vesicles through various downsizing techniques for biomedical applications

Treatment of injuries to bone structure represents a significant economic burden for health care institutions and systems worldwide. The development of tissue engineering scaffolds has expanded to include the incorporation of nanotechnology platforms such as liposomes for the efficient delivery of chemotherapeutic agents. Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is a naturally occurring quinone with antioxidant and tissue regenerative properties. In this study, the liposome-based encapsulation of PQQ was achieved by studying the effect of different downsizing methods and lipid compositions. Liposomal sonication produced stable vesicles of sizes <200 nm. The incorporation of PQQ into the liposomes and its interactions with the lipids enhanced their stability for up to four weeks and allowed sustained release for seven weeks. The results demonstrate the ability of these systems to encapsulate PQQ with high stability, efficient entrapment, and extended release profiles for their potential use in biomedicine as a delivery system for bone tissue engineering.