An investigation into the release of cefuroxime axetil from taste-masked stearic acid microspheres. III. The use of DSC and HSDSC as means of characterising the interaction of the microspheres with buffered media

Prolonged anesthesia and decreased toxicity of enantiomeric-excess bupivacaine loaded in ionic gradient liposomes

Bupivacaine is the most employed local anesthetic in surgical procedures, worldwide. Its systemic toxicity has directed the synthesis of the less toxic, S(-) enantiomer. This work describes a formulation of ionic gradient liposomes (IGL) containing _S75BVC, an enantiomeric excess mixture of 75% S(-) and 25% R(+) bupivacaine. IGL prepared with 250 mM (NH₄)₂SO₄ in the inner aqueous core of phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol (3:2 mol%) vesicles plus 0.5% _S75BVC showed average sizes of 312.5 ± 4.5 nm, low polydispersity (PDI < 0.18), negative zeta potentials (-14.2 ± 0.2 mV) and were stable for 360 days. The encapsulation efficiency achieved with IGL_S75BVC (%EE = 38.6%) was higher than with IGL prepared with racemic bupivacaine (IGL_RBVC, %EE = 28.3%). TEM images revealed spherical vesicles and µDSC analysis provided evidence on the interaction of the anesthetic with the lipid bilayer. Then, in vitro - release kinetics and cytotoxicity- and in vivo - toxic effects in Zebrafish and biochemical/histopathological analysis plus analgesia in Wistar rats - tests were performed. IGL_S75BVC exhibited negligible toxicity against Schwann cells and Zebrafish larvae, and it did not affect biochemical markers or the morphology of rat tissues (heart, brain, cerebellum, sciatic nerve). The in vitro release of _S75BVC from IGL was extended from 4 to 24 h, justifying the prolonged anesthetic effect measured in rats (~9 h). The advantages of IGL_S75BVC formulation over IGL_RBVC and plain bupivacaine formulations (prolonged anesthesia, preferential sensorial blockade, and no toxicity) confirm its potential for clinical use in surgical anesthesia.

Multifunctional Role of Polyvinylpyrrolidone in Pharmaceutical Formulations

Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), a non-ionic polymer, has been employed in multifarious fields such as paper, fibers and textiles, ceramics, and pharmaceutics due to its superior properties. Especially in pharmacy, the properties of inertness, non-toxicity, and biocompatibility make it a versatile excipient for both conventional formulations and novel controlled or targeted delivery systems, serving as a binder, coating agent, suspending agent, pore-former, solubilizer, stabilizer, etc. PVP with different molecular weights (MWs) and concentrations is used in a variety of formulations for different purposes. In this review, PVP-related researches mainly in recent 10 years were collected, and its main pharmaceutical applications were summarized as follows: (i) improving the bioavailability and stability of drugs, (ii) improving the physicomechanical properties of preparations, (iii) adjusting the release rate of drugs, and (iv) prolonging the in vivo circulation time of liposomes. Most of these applications could be explained by the viscosity, solubility, hydrophilicity, and hydrogen bond-forming ability of PVP, and the specific action mechanisms for each application were also tried to figure out. The effect of PVP on bioavailability improvement establishes it as a promising polymer in the emerging controlled or targeted formulations, attracting growing interest on it. Therefore, given its irreplaceability and tremendous opportunities for future developments, this review aims to provide an informative reference about current roles of PVP in pharmacy for interested readers.

Lipids for Taste masking and Taste assessment in pharmaceutical formulations

Pharmaceutical products often have drawbacks of unacceptable taste and palatability which makes it quite difficult for oral administration to some special populations like pediatrics and geriatrics. To curb this issue different approaches like coating, granulation, extrusion, inclusion complexation, ion-exchange resins, etc for taste masking are employed and among them use of lipids have drawn special attention of researchers. Lipids have a lower melting point which is ideal for incorporating drugs in some of these methods like hot-melt extrusion, melt granulation, spray drying/congealing and emulsification. Lipids play a significant role as a barrier to sustain the release of drugs and biocompatible nature of lipids increases their acceptability by the human body. Further, lipids provide vast opportunities of altering pharmacokinetics of the active ingredients by modulating release profiles. In taste sensors, also known as electronic tongue or e-tongue, lipids are used in preparing taste sensing membranes which are subsequently used in preparing taste sensors. Lipid membrane taste sensors have been widely used in assessing taste and palatability of pharmaceutical and food formulations. This review explores applications of lipids in masking the bitter taste in pharmaceutical formulations and significant role of lipids in evaluation of taste and palatability.

Taste masking of water-soluble drug by solid lipid microspheres: a child-friendly system established by reversed lipid-based nanoparticle technique

Objectives

A child-friendly taste-masking strategy using solid lipid microsphere (SLM) has been proposed to obscure the undesirable taste of some water-soluble drugs. In this study, the reversed lipid-based nanoparticle (RLBN) technique was used to encapsulate a water-soluble drug to facilitate the preparation of SLM.

Methods

The model drug used was atomoxetine hydrochloride (ATX), and a three-step method was used to prepare ATX-RLBN. Taste-masking microsphere (ATX-RLBN-SLM) was prepared by the spray chilling method. The drug release mechanism was studied by high-performance liquid chromatography and scanning electron microscopy. Moreover, in vitro taste evaluation method was established and ATX bioavailability was investigated employing pharmacokinetic studies.

Key findings

The obtained ATX-RLBN-SLM had smooth spherical particles with a size of about 80 μm. The drug encapsulation and loading efficiencies were 98.28% ± 0.59% and 0.89% ± 0.04%, respectively. In vitro drug release studies showed that nearly 96% drug was retained in the microspheres within 10 min at pH 6.8 and a complete release was triggered by lipase, accompanied by variation in the morphology. Taste assessment revealed that ATX-RLBN-SLM could efficiently mask the bitter taste and improved the bioavailability of ATX.

Conclusions

Atomoxetine hydrochloride-reversed lipid-based nanoparticle-solid lipid microsphere exhibited excellent taste-masking effect with negligible leakage in the oral cavity environment and thorough collapse upon lipase stimulation, simultaneously enhancing the bioavailability of ATX. The study paves a new way to efficiently mask the undesirable taste of some water-soluble drugs.

Spray congealing: a versatile technology for advanced drug-delivery systems

Spray congealing is a low cost, simple and versatile method to produce microparticles without the use of organic or aqueous solvent. This review provides a detailed picture of the pharmaceutical applications of this technology, with an overview of the spray-congealed-based drug-delivery systems. First, the basic principles and equipment of spray congealing technology are presented. Then, representative examples of the drug-delivery systems are examined and critically discussed. Emphasis is given on the role of formulation variables, together with practical considerations for formulation design. In addition, the current status of the industrial applications of this technology within the pharmaceutical field is examined. The final part points out benefits, limitations and future perspectives of this technology in drug delivery.

Application of vibrational spectroscopy supported by theoretical calculations in identification of amorphous and crystalline forms of cefuroxime axetil

FT-IR and Raman scattering spectra of cefuroxime axetil were proposed for identification studies of its crystalline and amorphous forms. An analysis of experimental spectra was supported by quantum-chemical calculations performed with the use of B3LYP functional and 6-31G(d,p) as a basis set. The geometric structure of a cefuroxime axetil molecule, HOMO and LUMO orbitals, and molecular electrostatic potential were also determined by using DFT (density functional theory). The benefits of applying FT-IR and Raman scattering spectroscopy for characterization of drug subjected to degradation were discussed.

Preparation and evaluation of taste-masked donepezil hydrochloride orally disintegrating tablets

The purpose of this research was to prepare and evaluate a non-bitter donepezil hydrochloride (DH) orally disintegrating tablet (ODT) for enhanced patient compliance. Taste masking was done by preparing microspheres with different ratios of drug and Eudragit EPO using spray drying method. The entrapment of the drug into microspheres was confirmed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray powder diffraction. It was found that microspheres with a drug-polymer ratio of 1 : 2 could mask the taste obviously by inhibiting the release of DH in simulated salivary fluid. Microspheres-loaded tablets containing Polyplasdone NF and Low substituted Hydroxypropyl Cellulose (L-HPC) both at a 10% level showed rapid disintegration, in vitro (15.5 s) and in vivo (19.8 s), which were faster than that of marketed tablets (36.7, 41.3 s, respectively). Results from taste evaluation in human volunteers revealed that the ODTs with taste-masked microspheres had significantly enhanced palatability. Dissolution in vitro and pharmacokinetics in rats were evaluated for the tested ODTs compared to the donepezil hydrochloride commercial product (ARICEPT). Both tablets showed comparable dissolution patterns in vitro and similar area under curve from 0 to 24 h (AUC(0-24)), C(max) and T(max) of DH in vivo to each other, suggesting that the tested ODTs might give the similar drug efficacy in rats compared to that of ARICEPT. Thus, it was concluded that DH ODTs with masked taste were obtained by Eudragit EPO-based microspheres, drug loaded microspheres neither decreased the bioavailability nor delayed the release of DH.

Effect of soluble filler on drug release from stearic acid based compacts

Fatty acids are potentially suitable carriers for use in the design of drug delivery systems, being biocompatible, biodegradable, of low toxicity inexpensive, with drug release being approximately proportional to the square root of time. However, at low drug loadings, below the critical percolation threshold, release is likely to be extremely slow and incomplete. To overcome these problems, we have investigated the use of increasing amounts of the soluble filler lactose on drug release. Benzoic acid and insulin were used as model low and high molecular weight drugs, respectively. At a 10% loading, benzoic acid was an order of magnitude higher than that observed for insulin. Using lactose as soluble filler, it was possible to effect greater release with increasing lactose content in the range 10-50%. Values of F, the formation factor, increased, but not to the same extent as for increased drug loading. The Higuchi release rate constant, k, was similar at lactose loadings of 5-20%, but increased rapidly at higher lactose loadings. Quantitatively, the addition of lactose yielded release rate constants 1.2-3.6 times greater than the value for lactose-free compacts in the case of benzoic acid and two- to five-fold in the case of insulin. A linear relationship was demonstrated between k, and the percentage soluble fraction of the matrix above the percolation threshold.

An Investigation into the Interaction between Taste Masking Fatty Acid Microspheres and Alkaline Buffer using Thermal and Spectroscopic Analysis

Fatty acid-based microspheres may be used for the controlled delivery and taste masking of therapeutic agents, although the mechanisms involved in the release process are poorly understood. In this investigation, microspheres composed of high purity stearic and palmitic acid were prepared using a spray-chilling protocol. In addition, samples of binary fatty acid systems, fatty acid salts and acid-soaps were prepared to allow comparison with the microspheres. The interaction with alkaline buffer, into which release is known to be rapid, was studied using DSC and powder XRD with a view to examining the physicochemical changes undergone by the microspheres as a result of exposure to this medium. New species were identified for the postimmersion microsphere systems; similarities between the thermal and spectroscopic properties of these materials and the acid-soap references indicated the formation of acid-soaps during the exposure to the medium. The data indicate that simple exposure to buffer may result in the formation of acid soaps. This in turn has implications for understanding not only the release of drugs from the microspheres but also the biological fate of fatty acids on ingestion.

Modeling small-molecule release from PLG microspheres: effects of polymer degradation and nonuniform drug distribution

Modeling release of small molecules from degradable microspheres is important to the design of controlled-release drug delivery systems. Release of small molecules from poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLG) particles is often controlled by diffusion of the drug through the polymer and by polymer degradation. In this study, a model is developed to independently determine the contributions of each of these factors by fitting the release of piroxicam from monodisperse 50-microm microspheres made with PLG of different initial molecular weights. The dependence of the drug diffusivity on polymer molecular weight was determined from in vitro release of piroxicam from monodisperse 10-microm PLG microspheres, and the polymer degradation rate was experimentally measured using gel permeation chromatography. The model also incorporates the effect of nonuniform drug distribution within the microspheres, which is obtained from confocal fluorescence microscopy. The model results agree well with experiments despite using only one fit parameter.

Factors influencing drug release from stearic acid based compacts

Fatty acids are potentially suitable carriers for use in the design of drug delivery systems, being biocompatible, biodegradable inexpensive and of low toxicity. The release of the model compound benzoic acid from fatty acid compacts of stearic acid was evaluated using the USP Apparatus 2 dissolution assembly in phosphate buffer pH 7.4. Matrix controlled drug release was expected. Release profiles were approximated by square root of time kinetics. Release rate was independent of stirring speed in the rpm range 50-150, however, at 200 rpm a significant increase in release rate was observed particularly at later times, the amount released versus square root of time plots becoming non-linear. Release was independent of compression pressure in the range 1-7 tons. The particle size of the benzoic acid and stearic acid used had a significant influence on release. The use of particles in the range 250-500 microm gave release rate constants (k, g/cm(2) per min(0.5)) approximately 1.5 greater than those of smaller particle size (63-125 microm). The formation factor (F) tended to increase exponentially with drug loading, the increase being steeper for compacts prepared from the larger particle sizes. At 80% drug loading for large sized systems the matrix appeared to offer little resistance to drug release and F approached one.