EVALUATION AND QUALITY CONTROL OF NASAL SPRAY

Nasal drug delivery has now been recognized as a very promising route for delivery of therapeutic compounds including biopharmaceuticals. This route is also advisable for drugs undergoing extensive first pass effect. The present article highlights the evaluation parameters of nasal spray, suspension, and solutions. While formulating the nasal drug delivery formulations various parameters are to be consider such as Appearance, Color, and Clarity, Identification, Drug content (Assay), Impurities and Degradation Products, Preservative(s) and Stabilizing Excipient(s) Assay, Pump Delivery, Spray content uniformity, Spray Content Uniformity (SCU) through Container Life, Spray Pattern and Plume Geometry, Droplet Size Distribution, Particle size distribution (suspension),  Microscopic Evaluation (Suspensions), Foreign Particulates,  Microbial limit,  Preservative Effectiveness, Net Content and Weight Loss (Stability), Leachables (Stability), PH, Osmolality.   Key words: Nasal spray, Evaluation, Quality control, Drug delivery system