Design, preparation, and in vitro evaluation of gastroretentive floating matrix tablet of mitiglinide.

The present research is focused on developing floating matrix tablets of mitiglinide to prolong its gastric residence time for better absorption. Gastroretentive tablets were prepared using a direct compression technique with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose K15M (HPMC K15M) and sodium alginate as matrix-forming polymers and sodium bicarbonate as the gas-forming agent. A 32 full factorial design was adopted to optimize the flotation and release profile of the drug. The concentration of HPMC K15M and sodium alginate were taken as the independent variables, and the floating lag time, time required for 50% drug release, and time required for 90% drug release were taken as dependent variables. The compatibility between drug and excipients was assessed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The prepared tablets were evaluated for different parameters such as hardness, friability, drug content, floating time, in vitro dissolution, and stability. Dissolution data were analyzed using various kinetic models to ascertain the mechanism of drug release. Finally, a radiographic study was conducted to estimate the retention time of the optimized floating matrix tablets of mitiglinide inside the body. The results revealed that all the physical properties of the developed formulations were within standard limits. The formulation M3, with the maximum amount of both independent variables, was considered to be the optimized formulation based on the desirability value. In addition, the optimized M3 formulation showed stability for over 6 months, as evidenced by insignificant changes in lag time, drug release pattern, and other physical properties. Furthermore, radiographic examination indicated that the tablets remained afloat in gastric fluid for up to 12 h in the rabbit's stomach. In conclusion, the developed floating matrix tablet of mitiglinide could be regarded as a promising formulation that could release the drug in the stomach at a controlled rate and, hence, offer better management of type II diabetes.

Melt Dispersion Adsorbed onto Porous Carriers: An Effective Method to Enhance the Dissolution and Flow Properties of Raloxifene Hydrochloride.

The objective of the present investigation is to enhance the dissolution and flow properties of raloxifene hydrochloride (RXH), a biopharmaceutical classification system class II drug. Melt dispersion of RXH with polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000 was prepared by the fusion method. The melt dispersion was then adsorbed onto a porous adsorbent, Neusilin, by the melt adsorption method. Response surface methodology was employed to establish the design space for formulation variables such as the ratio of RXH to PEG 6000 in melt dispersion and amount of porous adsorbent to melt dispersion. Differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and accelerated stability techniques were utilized to characterize formulations. Negative Gibbs free energy values indicated spontaneous solubilization of RXH in PEG 6000. The time required for 80% of drug release from optimized formulation was <20 min compared with plain RXH. Accelerated stability studies confirmed the stabilization of amorphous melt dispersion in nanopores (nanoconfinement) of inorganic silicate Neusilin. Melt dispersion, adsorbed on porous carriers, is a promising technique to improve the dissolution characteristic as well as flow properties of drug molecules.

Spray dried solid dispersion of repaglinide using hypromellose acetate succinate: in vitro and in vivo characterization.

OBJECTIVE: This research study attempted to develop spray-dried solid dispersion, to enhance the solubility of repaglinide, an antidiabetic drug. SIGNIFICANCE: Aqueous solubility plays a major role in drug delivery because any chemical entity has to be in a dissolved state at the site of absorption, in order to get absorbed. Solid dispersion (SD) is one of the widely used techniques to enhance solubility and hence dissolution rate of poorly soluble drugs. METHODS: Repagnilide, in hypromellose acetate succinate (HPMCAS) solution, was dried by spray drying to obtain spray-dried solid dispersion (SDSD). Plackett-Burman and Box-Behnken designs were used for screening formulation as well as process parameters, and optimization respectively. DSC, XRD, SEM were carried out to confirm the preparation of solid dispersion. SDSD was evaluated for in vitro dissolution, flow properties, Percentage yield and in vivo oral glucose tolerance test. RESULT: Spray dried solid dispersion comprising (w/w) drug:polymer ratio of 1:3.82, 2.56% of aerosil and inlet temperature of 90 °C, corresponded to the best formulation obtained in this work. It showed t 85% of less than 15 min and a significant reduction in blood glucose level in rats as compared to pure drug and marketed formulation. CONCLUSION: Thus, it can be concluded that spray-dried solid dispersion prepared using HPMCAS is a useful technique for solubility and dissolution enhancement of repaglinide.

Solid dispersion adsorbate technique for improved dissolution and flow properties of lurasidone hydrochloride: characterization using 32 factorial design.

The aim of the present study was to improve the dissolution and flow properties of lurasidone hydrochloride (LH) by solid dispersion adsorbate (SDA) technique. Solid dispersions (SDs) of LH were prepared by fusion method using Poloxamer P188. The melt dispersion was adsorbed onto the porous carrier Florite (calcium silicate). A 32 factorial design was employed to quantify the effect of two independent variables, namely ratio of carrier (Poloxamer 188) and LH in SD and ratio of adsorbent (Florite) to SD. SDA granules of LH were studied for flow properties and characterized using differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Tablets of optimized composition of SDA granules (equivalent to 20 mg of drug) and plain tablets were prepared by direct compression method. The dissolution studies were carried out in Mcllvaine buffer (pH 3.8) as per USFDA guidelines and characterized for parameters such as percent dissolution efficiency, t50, and Q30. Tablets prepared from SDA granules showed almost four-fold increase in cumulative percentage drug release as compared to tablets prepared from plain LH. The value of dissolution efficiency was enhanced from 49.60% for plain tablets to 94.15% for SDA tablets. SDA granules did not show any change in drug release and X-ray diffraction pattern after storage at 40 °C/75% of RH for 3 months, which confirms that Florite prevented conversion of drug from amorphous form to crystalline form improving physical stability of the amorphous state of LH.

Liquisolid Tablets for Dissolution Enhancement of a Hypolipidemic Drug.

This investigation was aimed to improve the dissolution rate of the poorly soluble drug lovastatin, by formulating it as a liquisolid compact. Different liquisolid compacts were prepared using mathematical formulae to calculate the required quantities of powder and liquid ingredients to produce acceptably flowable and compressible admixture. Avicel PH 200, Cab-O-Sil, sodium starch glycolate and PEG 400 were employed as carrier, coating material, disintegrant and non-volatile liquid vehicle, respectively. The various drug to liquid and carrier to coating ratio were used to prepare liquisolid compacts. The formulated liquisolid tablets were evaluated for weight variation, hardness, drug content, friability and disintegration time. The in vitro release characteristics of the drug from tablets formulated by direct compression and liquisolid technique were compared in two different dissolution media. The tableting properties of the liquisolid compacts were within the acceptable limits and drug release rates were distinctly higher as compared to directly compressed tablets. The FTIR spectra showed no interaction between drug-excipient and disappearance of the characteristic absorption band of lovastatin in liquisolid formulations could be attributed to the formation of hydrogen bonding between the drug and liquid vehicle, which resulted in dissolution enhancement. Thus, the liquisolid technique was found to be a promising approach for improving the dissolution of a poorly soluble drug like lovastatin.

Preparation and optimization of microemulsion of rosuvastatin calcium.

Due to very less bioavailability (20%) of Rosuvastatin calcium, an attempt was made to develop and optimize microemulsion formulation. Capmul MCM, Tween 20 and PEG 400 were selected as oil, surfactant and cosurfactant respectively as the drug is having higher solubility in them. 3:1% w/w S:CoS was selected as it gave higher microemulsion area. Optimized batch (ME-1) was selected having 5% Capmul MCM, 50% Tween 20:PEG 400 and 45% water based on evaluation parameters globule size, zeta potential, PDI, % transmittance.

Development of microemulsion for solubility enhancement of clopidogrel.

Clopidogrel, an inhibitor of platelet aggregation, selectively inhibits the binding of adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to its platelet receptor and the subsequent ADP-mediated activation of the glycoprotein GPIIb/IIIa complex, thereby inhibiting platelet aggregation. Oral bioavailability of clopidogrel is very low (less than 50%), due to its poor water solubility. The aim of this investigation was to design and develop a microemulsion formulation of clopidogrel for enhancing its solubility, and hence its oral bioavailability. For this purpose, initially, solubility of clopidogrel was determined in various vehicles. Next, pseudo-ternary phase diagrams were constructed to identify the microemulsion existing zone. Solubility study was also performed for optimization of formulation. The optimized microemulsion formulation was characterized for its transparency, droplet size, zeta potential, viscosity, conductivity, % assay, and phase separation study. Particle size and zeta potential of the optimized microemulsion formulation were found to be 12.3 nm, and -6.34 mV, respectively. The viscosity and conductivity data indicated that the microemulsion was of the o/w type. Solubility of clopidogrel was successfully enhanced by 80.66 times, via capmul microemulsion, compared with distilled water (pH = 7.4). 75.53% and 71.2 % of the drug content were found to be released within 9 h in the in-vitro and ex-vivo studies, respectively. Hence, by formulating into microemulsion, the solubility of clopidogrel was found to be significantly enhanced.

Intracellular delivery of nanoparticles of an antiasthmatic drug.

The aim of the investigation was to prepare and characterize wheat germ agglutinin(WGA)-conjugated poly(D: ,L-lactic-co-glycolic) acid nanoparticles encapsulating mometasone furoate (MF) as a model drug and assess changes in its fate in terms of cellular interactions. MF loaded nanoparticles were prepared using emulsion-solvent evaporation technique. WGA-conjugation was done by carbodiimide coupling method. The nanoparticles were characterized for size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency and in-vitro drug release. The intracellular uptake of nanoparticles, drug cellular levels, and anti-proliferative activity studies of wheat germ agglutinin-conjugated and unconjugated nanoparticles were assessed on alveolar epithelial (A549) cells to establish cellular interactions. Prepared nanoparticles were spherical with 10-15 microg/mg of WGA conjugated on nanoparticles. The size of nanoparticles increased after conjugation and drug entrapment and zeta potential reduced from 78 +/- 5.5% to 60 +/- 2.5% and -15.3 +/- 1.9 to -2.59 +/- 2.1 mV respectively after conjugation. From the cellular drug concentration-time plot, AUC was found to be 0.4745, 0.6791 and 1.24 for MF, MF-nanoparticles and wheat germ agglutinin-MF-nanoparticles respectively. The in-vitro antiproliferative activity was improved and prolonged significantly after wheat germ agglutinin-conjugation. The results conclusively demonstrate improved availability and efficacy of antiasthmatic drug in alveolar epithelial cell lines. Hence, a drug once formulated as mucoadhesive nanoparticles and incorporated in dry powder inhaler formulation may be used for targeting any segment of lungs for more improved therapeutic response in other lung disorders as well.

Wheat germ agglutinin-conjugated nanoparticles for sustained cellular and lung delivery of budesonide.

The purpose of our studies was to assess in vitro nanoparticles cellular uptake and cellular budesonide levels after treatment of alveolar epithelial cell lines with wheat germ agglutinin (WGA)-conjugated budesonide nanoparticles and pharmacokinetic evaluation of drug after intratracheal instillation of nanoparticles in rats. Confocal microscopy was used to study the cellular uptake of nanoparticles, and the cellular and lung tissue drug levels were estimated by HPLC. Higher amount of fluorescence observed in the cells treated with WGA nanoparticles, higher and sustained cellular drug levels, and better bioavailability in lungs of WGA-conjugated nanoparticles indicate superiority of WGA-conjugated nanoparticles over unconjugated nanoparticles.