Exploring the potential of ferulic acid-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers: angiotensin inhibition via docking, formulation and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics studies.

Ferulic acid (FA) is a natural phenolic compound that has been documented for its antioxidant properties and potential in managing hypertension. However, its use is limited due to poor solubility and permeability (BCS Class IV classification). To overcome this, nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) of FA were developed using the emulsification probe sonication technique, with formulation optimized through Box-Behnken design. The optimized FA-NLCs (F12) demonstrated a particle size of 103.4 nm, zeta potential of -43.6 mV, polydispersity index of 0.531, and entrapment efficiency of 88.9%. Key Findings of the research manifested, that during in-vitro release studies, FA-NLCs showed sustained release action (40.34% over 24 h) compared to plain FA (103.13% in 4 h). Pharmacokinetics of FA-NLC suggested that increased C_max by 2.6-fold, AUC by 1.9-fold, and half-life significantly (p < .001), also Pharmacodynamics revealed that FA-NLCs reduced blood pressure more effectively (39.9 mmHg vs. 30.8 mmHg for plain FA; p < .001). Furthermore, FA-NLC was showing successful intestinal uptake through lymphatic absorption via clathrin-mediated endocytosis, bypassing first-pass metabolism, hence showed enhancement in bioavailability, Thus the study concluded that FA-NLCs significantly improve therapeutic efficacy and sustained blood pressure reduction compared to plain FA.