Purpose: Many existing and new drugs fail to be fully utilized because of their limited bioavailability due to poor solubility in aqueous media. Given the emerging importance of using nanoparticles as a promising way to enhance the dissolution rate of these drugs, a method must be developed to adequately reflect the rate-change due to size reduction. At present, there is little published work examining the suitability of different dissolution apparatus for nanoparticles.
Methods: Four commonly-used methods (the paddle, rotating basket and flow-through cell from the US Pharmacopia, and a dialysis method) were employed to measure the dissolution rates of cefuroxime axetil as a model for nanodrug particles.
Results: Experimental rate ratios between the nanoparticles and their unprocessed form were 6.95, 1.57 and 1.00 for the flow-through, basket and paddle apparatus respectively. In comparison, the model-predicted value was 7.97. Dissolution via dialysis was rate-limited by the membrane.
Conclusions: The data showed the flow-through cell to be unequivocally the most robust dissolution method for the nanoparticulate system. Furthermore, the dissolution profiles conform closely to the classic Noyes-Whitney model, indicating that the increase in dissolution rate as particles become smaller results from the increase in surface area and solubility of the nanoparticles.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11095-008-9560-0 | DOI Listing |
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!