Abstract

DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF ENTERIC COATED EGG ALBUMIN MICROSPHERES LOADED WITH MESALAMINE FOR COLON- SPECIFIC DRUG DELIVERY

Nidhi Namdev* and Ravina Patidar

ABSTRACT

In the present study, Eudragit coated egg albumin microspheres loaded with meselamine were prepared by w/o emulsion cross-linking method. The objective of the present investigation was to design a multi particulate delivery system for site specific delivery of mesalazine using egg albumin and pH-sensitive polymer (Eudragit S100).The effect of formulation variables on physicochemical properties of microspheres was investigated. Various formulation variables i.e. polymer concentration, emulsifier concentration and cross linking concentration were optimized to get small uniform and spherical discrete microspheres. Then optimized microspheres with different core coat ratio were prepared. FT-IR studies revealed the absence of any chemical interactions between the drug and excipients used. Scanning electron microscope images revealed that the prepared microspheres were discrete, broadly spherical with rough surface characteristics. The size of the microspheres was in the range of 75±1.4μm to 107±1.2μm. Percentage encapsulation efficiency was found to be within 56.33 ± 0.2 to 92.19± 1.5 and this were largely dependent on polymer amount, extent of cross-linking and core: coat ratio. Higher drug release was observed for the microspheres prepared at lower drug polymer ratio. The drug release was also reduced with higher cross-linking conditions. On the other hand, more controlled drug release was observed with the microspheres containing higher core: coat ratios Overall, formulation variables have significantly affected the physicochemical properties of the prepared microspheres.

Keywords: Meselamine; Egg albumin; Gluteraldehyde; Eudragit S100; cross linking; Micropsheres.