![]() | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Nimodipine is a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker with specific selectivity to brain vasculature. It works by inducing dilatation of the small resistance cerebral vessels and increases cerebral blood flow in damaged regions of the brain. The main therapeutic use of nimodipine is to prevent and treat delayed ischemia secondary to aneurysmal subrachronoid hemorrhage. Therefore, most patients on nimodipine are critical care unit patients. Nimodipine has limited aqueous solubility that leads to poor bioavailability (13%). Having short half-life, this makes it a suitable candidate for sustained release formulation. Nimodipine is absorbed mostly from upper gastro-intestinal tract. For such drug with short halflife and narrow absorption window in upper gastrointestinal tract, a gastro retentive in situ gel sustained release drug delivery systems can overcome this problem and improves drug bioavailability. Oral in situ gel forming liquids are newly introduced strategy for sustaining the release of drug; they are polymeric solutions which are in liquid form outside the body but undergo sol to gel transformation after administration. In these studies, the mechanism of gel formation is electrolyte triggered. Incorporation of calcium chloride and sodium citrate in the formulation is important as it forms calcium complex that ensures fluidity while in the bottle. Upon exposure to stomach acidity, this complex breaks immediately liberating free calcium ions that interacts with alginate chains resulting in spontaneous gelation via ionic crosslinking. Abstract X Pharmaceutical Technology department, College of Pharmacy, University of Tanta, Tanta, Egypt. The aim of this work was to formulate oral in situ gelling liquid dosage form of nimodipine with potential for gastro-retention via mucoadhesion. Before incorporation in in situ gel forming polymers, nimodipine dissolution was improved by solid dispersion (SD) technique using poloxamer 407 as hydrophilic matrix in three different ratios of drug to polymer (0.5:1, 1:1, 1:2), the solid dispersions were prepared by hot melting method after which the resultant microparticles were further investigated by FTIR spectroscopic, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The rate of nimodipine release from the prepared SD micro-particles was investigated with reference to the unprocessed drug as a control; the dissolution medium was 900 ml of simulated gastric without enzymes. The optimized SD formulation enough to produce 3mg/ml of drug was incorporated in sodium alginate dispersions in presence or absence of carboxy methyl cellulose. The sodium alginate dispersions of three different concentrations (1%, 1.5%, 2%w/v giving formulations F1, F2 and F3, respectively) were prepared by using two different concentrations of cross linker components in order to investigate the effect of the concentration of cross linker on the release behavior of drug from in situ gelling systems. Carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC) was added to the optimized sodium alginate formula F1 (1% alginate, 0.075% calcium chloride and 0.25% sodium citrate w/v). Formulations F4, F5 and F6 were obtained containing 0.5, 1 and 1.5%w/v CMC, respectively. The latter was added to augment mucoadhesive properties and reduce liquefaction of the gel layer, thus prolonging gastric retention of the drug in stomach. Viscosity is determined by using Brookfield viscometer for in situ gel forming liquids in presence and Abstract XI Pharmaceutical Technology department, College of Pharmacy, University of Tanta, Tanta, Egypt. absence of CMC, in order to ensure pour ability of the gel liquids outside body. The in situ gel forming capacity test was performed to ensure the ability of the liquid to transform into gel upon exposure to suitable media that initiate gelation inside body. The bio-adhesive strength of selected alginate dispersions was measured using rabbit intestine as a model mucosal membrane; The adhesion force and bond strength were calculated. In order to study the In vitro drug release of nimodipine from in situ gelling systems, 900 ml of simulated gastric fluids without enzymes was used.To confirm the stomach retentive capability of the prepared in situ gelling systems, X-ray radiography was conducted for rabbit before and after being fed with formula F4, with lowest CMC contents. Barium sulfate at 15% w/v concentration was used as contrast media. Evaluation of nimodipine solid dispersions The FTIR spectroscopy excluded any interaction between nimodipine and matrix forming polymer. The thermal analysis and Xray reflected possible transformation in the crystalline structure of the drug into more soluble amorphous form. Solid dispersion microparticles showed a significant increase in dissolution behavior of the drug, there was about 4-fold enhancement in Q5 of nimodipine which was increased by increasing poloxamer 407 concentrations. Percent of drug released after 5 min was (22%, 56% and 51%) for SD1, SD2 and SD3 respectively, compared to Q5 equal to (5.4%) for the pure drug. Abstract XII Pharmaceutical Technology department, College of Pharmacy, University of Tanta, Tanta, Egypt. Evaluation of in situ gelling systems: For in situ forming systems, the viscosity of the formulation depended on the concentration of sodium alginate with the viscosity increasing with increasing alginate content. Addition of CMC increased the viscosity of the formulation in a concentration dependent pattern due to more chain interaction between alginate and CMC polymers. All formulations are pourable with adequate viscosity outside the body. Increasing alginate concentration increased the gel forming capacity as reflected by increasing the weight of the recovered gel, For CMC containing formulations, gel mass depended on CMC concentration which increased at higher CMC contents this is attributed to chain entanglement which provides higher degree of crosslinking. The bio-adhesion strength of the prepared in situ gelling liquids depended on the composition of each system with increasing alginate concentration increasing the bio-adhesive properties; Addition of CMC largely increased the bio-adhesive force. Dissolution parameters showed a sustained release pattern with dependence of the release rate on the concentration of sodium alginate. The formulations F1, F2 and F3 are dispersions of increasing concentrations of sodium alginate (1%, 1.5% and 2% w/v) respectively. The release rate of the drug decreased with increasing alginate contents. The effect of degree of crosslinking on drug release from in situ gelling systems was evaluated, it can be noticed that increasing calcium ions concentration has a substantial effect on drug dissolution behavior. Drug release was more extended from all formulations having duplicated concentrations of cross linkers compared to their parent batches prepared using lower concentrations. Abstract XIII Pharmaceutical Technology department, College of Pharmacy, University of Tanta, Tanta, Egypt. Evaluation of CMC containing alginate systems Formula F1 (1% w/v alginate) was used as prototype to prepare different systems with increasing concentration of CMC to avoid possible massive increase in viscosity upon CMC addition that might affect liquid pour-ability. For formulations containing CMC, a substantial decrease in drug release was observed with release efficiency significantly reduced. This pattern could be due to more physical entanglement between alginate and CMC chains resulting in formation of more firm gel. According to R2 values, drug release from all in situ gelling systems followed Higuchi model Therefore, it can be interpreted that the primary mechanism of drug release is diffusion controlled release. X-ray imaging in rabbit confirmed gastro-retentive property of the system. The study provides the formulator with a range of gastroretentive controlled release formulations of nimodipine while maintaining the convenience of administration via nasogastric tubing with potential for enhanced bioavailability. |