Nanostructured calcium phosphate carriers for deliver of poor water-soluble drug silybin

•Silybin drug loading and release performance of calcium phosphate are reported.•Amorphous calcium phosphate and hydroxyapatite nanostructures are obtained.•The reported drug delivery system is promising for applications in silybin delivery.

Silybin, the main component of silymarin, has been widely used as a hepatoprotective agent for a variety of acute and chronic liver diseases. However, its poor aqueous solubility lead to poor oral absorption and low bioavailability, which strongly limit its applications. The amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) nanosphere and hydroxyapatite (HAP) nanorod have been prepared and used for the investigation of the silybin loading and release. The results indicate that both ACP nanosphere and HAP nanorod have relatively high silybin-loading capacities which reach to 900 and 825 mg g−1. Moreover, the as-prepared silybin delivery systems exhibit sustained drug release performance in simulated gastric fluid and simulated intestinal fluid.