Structural properties of lecithin based reverse hexagonal (H_II) liquid crystals and in vitro release of dihydromyricetin

Dihydromyricetin (DMY) was encapsulated to lecithin based reverse hexagonal (H_II) liquid crystals to improve its solubility limitation. PEG 400 was used as the representative oil phase. The H_II mesophases were identified by means of polarized light microscopy (POM) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The DMY was solubilized in interface layer inferred from the increase of the interfacial area of per surfactant a_s and the infrared spectra. The hexagonal samples showed highly elastic Maxwell properties and shear thinning properties indicated by their rheological spectra. Moreover with the decrease of PEG 400 content, the internal structure of samples apparently becomes more stable, as indicated by the increase in the storage and loss moduli and the decrease in a_s. Oleic acid enhances the viscoelasticity of sample and increases the release stability for DMY under acidic conditions. The in vitro release of DMY in H_II matrices showed that carriers have an ideal sustained release effect. The release of DMY was controlled by concentration diffusion.