QUALITY BY DESIGN DRIVEN FORMULATION DEVELOPMENT, AND OPTIMIZATION OF ENALAPRIL MALEATE LOADED MUCOADHESIVE MICROSPHERES: IN-VITRO AND IN-VIVO CHARACTERIZATION

Objective: The study is to formulate the enalapril maleate-loaded mucoadhesive microspheres with varied compositions of selected polymers for developing the oral controlled release formulations prepared by ionic gelation method and optimization through central composite design. Methods: Systematic optimization of microspheres was accomplished by central composite design and characterized for particle size, entrapment efficiency, in vitro drug release and ex vivo mucoadhesion strength, which indicated that microspheres were consequence to be spherical and free flowing in nature. The microspheres exhibited high drug entrapment efficiency and in vitro drug release in a sustained manner, which was considered to be dependent on the concentration of rate controlling polymers. The microspheres are showed 389.2 to 850µm particle size and 22.36 to 85.22 % encapsulation efficiency. In-vitro studies indicated optimized formulation showed 89.26% drug release after 12h and reduced blood pressure effectively. Results: The pharmacokinetic parameters were evaluated with Cmax of 75.39 µg/ml, tmax of 8h, and AUC of 53.55 µg/hr/ml, elimination rate constant of 0.0392 and t1/2 of 10h. The stability studies were conducted for 3 months under various conditions and identified no significant deviations in selected key quality attributes.   Conclusion: The formulated mucoadhesive microspheres of enalapril maleate tend to reduce the blood pressure in the animal model, with the novel drug delivery approach in the efficient management of hypertension

QbD-based design and characterization of mucoadhesive microspheres of quetiapine fumarate with improved oral bioavailability and brain biodistribution potential

The present work aims to discuss on Quality by Design based development and characterization of the sustained release mucoadhesive microspheres of quetiapine fumarate. The microspheres were prepared by non-aqueous solvent evaporation process. Factor screening study was carried out using fractional factorial design for identifying the influential factors. Systematic optimization of microspheres was accomplished by Box-Behnken design and characterized for particle size, entrapment efficiency, in vitro drug release and ex vivo mucoadhesion strength, which indicated that microspheres were consequence to be spherical and free flowing in nature. The microspheres exhibited high drug entrapment efficiency and in vitro drug release in a sustained manner, which was considered to be dependent on the concentration of rate controlling polymers. Ex vivo wash-off test on microspheres indicated good mucoadhesive property on excised goat intestinal mucosa. Out of all the accepted formulation, F6 was preferred as the optimized formulation. In vivo pharmacokinetic and brain biodistribution study revealed significant increase in the levels of drug in blood plasma and brain homogenates from the optimized formulation vis-à-vis the pure drug suspension. Overall, current study corroborated significant improvement in the biopharmaceutical attributes of quetiapine fumarate from mucoadhesive microspheres, which can be effectively used for management of depression and schizophrenia. Keywords: Quality by Design, DoE, Sustained release, Mucoadhesion, Depressio

Improvement in the dissolution rate and tableting properties of cefuroxime axetil by melt-granulated dispersion and surface adsorption

AbstractA combination of melt-granulated dispersion and surface adsorption techniques was used to enhance the dissolution and tableting properties of cefuroxime axetil (CA). Gelucire 50/13 was used as the melt-dispersion carrier and Sylysia 350 was used to adsorb the melt dispersion. Solubility studies showed an 8-fold increase in solubility at a ratio of 1:1.5 for CA:Gelucire 50/13. The minimum quantity of Sylysia 350 required to achieve the desired flowability and compressibility was 0.5 parts of Sylysia 350 per unit of Gelucire 50/13. Phase solubility studies showed negative ΔGtr0 values for Gelucire 50/13 at various concentrations (2–10%, w/v), indicating the spontaneous nature of solubilization. FT-IR and DSC spectra exhibited drug-excipient compatibility. Molecular modeling by a computational method employing energy minimization revealed entrapment of CA in Gelucire 50/13. The total potential energy of CA (70.562kcal/mol) was reduced to 33.578kcal/mol after solid dispersion with Gelucire 50/13. P-XRD studies indicated that the presence of Sylysia 350 is less likely to promote the reversion of the amorphous CA to a crystalline state. In vitro dissolution studies demonstrated an improved dissolution rate, and drug release at 15min (Q15min) exhibited a 15-fold improvement. The rapidly dissolving CA tablets showed improved dissolution with improved tableting properties