Pharmaceutica Analytica Acta

Development of Drug Delivery Systems for Fish Larvae Reared in Aquaculture

2^nd International Conference on Pharmaceutics & Novel Drug Delivery Systems

20-22 February 2012 San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront, USA

Andr? Santos, Wilson Pinto, Sofia Engrola, Lu?s Conceicao and Ana Grenha

Posters: Pharm Anal Acta

Abstract:

Most marine fish larvae reared in aquaculture hatch withimmaturedigestive and immune systems, being extremely susceptible to diseases.Thus, sub-optimal rearing conditions are often associated with high larval mortalities, leading to high production losses. This work aimed to develop microencapsulated carriersof bioactive compounds to reduce disease susceptibility and increase fish larval survival. For this purpose, spray- drying and emulsification techniqueswere used to produce gelatin, chitosan, carrageenan and alginatemicrocarriers, where twomodel compounds were encapsulated: protein hydrolysateand a vitamins/minerals mixture, both with bioactive properties.Several techniques were used to characterise the carriers? size, morphology and release profile. In addition, the first prototypes of alginate and carrageenanproduced by emulsification were tested for digestibility in Senegalese sole (Soleasenegalensis) larvae, a species targeted for aquaculture in Southern-European countries.Results showed that spray- drying produced delivery systems of adequate size (2-8 μm) fora subsequent inclusion infish larvae diets.Chitosan was electeda good matrix-forming material for these carriers, allowing40-70% of model drugs to be released according to aninitial controlled- releaseprofile.This is an important featureto prevent saturation of intestinal transporters in fish larvae. Water-in-oil emulsions produced microcarrierswithan adequate size for direct ingestion by fish larvae (50-250 μm). However, results also showed thatalginate and carrageenan carrierswere poorly digestedby sole larvae, suggesting that digestibility and release profile of chitosan and gelatin microcarriers produced by emulsion should be further investigated.

Biography :

At the age of 26, Ana Grenha has concluded her PhD in Pharmaceutical Technology in 2007, at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain). Since 2007, she is Assistant Professor in Pharmaceutics at the University of Algarve and Group Leader at the Centre for Molecular and Structural Biomedicine in the same University. Her research is focused on bioencapsulation strategies, namely on the development of natural polymeric nanoparticles for systemic delivery of protein-based drugs through mucosal routes. A recent collaboration has directed bioencapsulation knowledge towards the field of aquaculture. Ana Grenha has published more than 25 papers/book chapters in reputed journals and is a Section Editor in an International Journal.