Abstract

FORMULATION AND INVITRO EVALUATION OF FELODIPINE LOADED NANOSPONGES– A PROPITIOUS PLATFORM FOR ENHANCING ORAL BIOAVAILABILITY

Sivaranjani J.*, Punitha S., M. K. Rajeshwari, K. Kaviya, G. Rathinavel

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Abstract

Hypertension is one of the most prevalent disorders in the world. Managing hypertension remains challenging due to the existing treatments' limited oral absorption and toxicity at higher dosages. Increasing the oral bioavailability of poorly water soluble drugs continues to be one of the most difficult areas of medical research. According to the Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS), felodipine is a class II drug with a low solubility and high permeability. It is therefore considered as the phase that limits the rate of the bioavailability process. Using the emulsion solvent diffusion approach and three different ethyl cellulose concentrations felodipine nanosponges were produced. This research project aims to increase felodipine's bioavailability. Particle sizes between 400 and 900 nm were confirmed by a DLS measurement. SEM photomicrographs were used to demonstrate the porous nature of the nanosponges, the solid surface of formulation F2 and the crystalline nature of the felodipine nanosponge confirmed by XRD study. In FTIR tests, no interactions between drugs and polymers were found. DSC thermograms were used to show that the drug's molecular dispersion in nanosponges was stable. The in vitro drug release from the nanosponges shown better solubility and higher bioavailability, with a burst release occurring within the first four hours and sustained drug delivery over the next twelve hours.

Keywords: Nanosponges, Felodipine, Hypertension, Ethyl cellulose & emulsion solvent diffusion method.