Design of in situ dispersible and calcium cross-linked alginate pellets as intestinal-specific drug carrier by melt pelletization technique

Chitosan oleate-tripolyphosphate complex-coated calcium alginate bead: Physicochemical aspects of concurrent core-coat formation

This study designed chitosan species-coated calcium alginate beads through concurrent core-coat formation. Chitosan oleate was synthesized by carbodiimide chemistry and characterized by ¹H NMR and FTIR techniques. Chitosan or chitosan oleate was coated onto the forming alginate or alginate/tripolyphosphate core using vibratory nozzle extrusion-microencapsulation approach, followed by calcium crosslinking. Chlorpheniramine maleate served as a model water-soluble drug. The molecular characteristics, size, shape, morphology, swelling, erosion, water uptake, drug content and drug release profiles of beads were evaluated. Discrete spherical coated beads were obtained through minimizing successive bead adhesion through an interplay of nozzle vibrational frequency and polymeric solution flow rate. The tripolyphosphate ions in the core possessed higher diffusional kinetics than alginate and were better able to attract chitosan species onto bead surfaces to facilitate alginate-chitosan coacervation. Amphiphilic chitosan oleate formed smaller aggregates than chitosan. It interacted with greater ease with core alginate and tripolyphosphate. The gain in alginate/tripolyphosphate interaction with chitosan oleate at the core-coat interface enhanced bead robustness against swelling and water uptake with drug release consequently dependent on the loss of alginate-drug interaction.

Coatless alginate pellets as sustained-release drug carrier for inflammatory bowel disease treatment

Conventional alginate pellets underwent rapid drug dissolution and failed to exert colon targeting unless subjected to complex coating. This study designed coatless delayed-release oral colon-specific alginate pellets for ulcerative colitis treatment. Alginate pellets, formulated with water-insoluble ethylcellulose and various calcium salts, were prepared using solvent-free melt pelletization technique which prevented reaction between processing materials during agglomeration and allowed reaction to initiate only in dissolution. Combination of acid-soluble calcium carbonate and highly water-soluble calcium acetate did not impart colon-specific characteristics to pellets due to pore formation in fragmented matrices. Combination of moderately water-soluble calcium phosphate and calcium acetate delayed drug release due to rapid alginate crosslinking by soluble calcium from acetate salt followed by sustaining alginate crosslinking by calcium phosphate. The use of 1:3 ethylcellulose-to-alginate enhanced the sustained drug release attribute. The ethylcellulose was able to maintain the pellet integrity without calcium acetate. Using hydrophobic prednisolone as therapeutic, hydrophilic alginate pellets formulated with hydrophobic ethylcellulose and moderately polar calcium phosphate exhibited colon-specific in vitro drug release and in vivo anti-inflammatory action. Coatless oral colon-specific alginate pellets can be designed through optimal formulation with melt pelletization as the processing technology.

Drug release, preclinical and clinical pharmacokinetics relationships of alginate pellets prepared by melt technology

INTRODUCTION

Alginate pellets prepared by the aqueous agglomeration technique experience fast drug dissolution due to the porous pre-formed calcium alginate microstructure.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated in vitro drug release, preclinical and clinical pharmacokinetics relationships of intestinal-specific calcium acetate-alginate pellets against calcium-free and calcium carbonate-alginate pellets.

METHOD

Alginate pellets were prepared by solvent-free melt pelletization instead of aqueous agglomeration technique using chlorpheniramine maleate as model drug.

RESULTS

A fast in situ calcium acetate dissolution in pellets resulted in rapid pellet breakup, soluble Ca(2+) crosslinking of alginate fragments and drug dissolution retardation at pH 1.2, which were not found in other pellet types. The preclinical drug absorption rate was lower with calcium acetate loaded than calcium-free alginate pellets. In human subjects, however, the extent and the rate of drug absorption were higher from calcium acetate-loaded pellets than calcium-free alginate pellets. The fine, dispersible and weakly gastric mucoadhesive calcium alginate pellets underwent fast human gastrointestinal transit. They released the drug at a greater rate than calcium-free pellets in the intestine, thereby promoting drug bioavailability.

CONCLUSION

Calcium acetate was required as a disintegrant more than as a crosslinking agent clinically to promote pellet fragmentation, fast gastrointestinal transit and drug release in intestinal medium, and intestinal-specific drug bioavailability.

Nanoparticulate assembly of mannuronic acid- and guluronic acid-rich alginate: oral insulin carrier and glucose binder

The relationship of high and low molecular weight mannuronic acid (M)- and guluronic acid (G)-rich alginate nanoparticles as oral insulin carrier was elucidated. Nanoparticles were prepared through ionotropic gelation using Ca(2+) , and then in vitro physicochemical attributes and in vivo antidiabetic characteristics were examined. The alginate nanoparticles had insulin release retarded when the matrices had high alginate-to-insulin ratio or strong alginate-insulin interaction via OH moiety. High molecular weight M-rich alginate nanoparticles were characterized by assemblies of long polymer chains that enabled insulin encapsulation with weaker polymer-drug interaction than nanoparticles prepared from other alginate grades. They were able to encapsulate and yet release and have insulin absorbed into systemic circulation, thereby lowering rat blood glucose. High molecular weight G- and low molecular weight M-rich alginate nanoparticles showed remarkable polymer-insulin interaction. This retarded the drug release and negated its absorption. Blood glucose lowering was, however, demonstrated in vivo with insulin-free matrices of these nanoparticles because of the strong alginate-glucose binding that led to intestinal glucose retention. Alginate nanoparticles can be used as oral insulin carrier or glucose binder in the treatment of diabetes as a function of its chemical composition. High molecular weight M-rich alginate nanoparticles are a suitable vehicle for future development into oral insulin carrier.

Chitosan as a pore former in coated beads for colon specific drug delivery of 5-ASA

A multiparticulate product for colon-specific delivery of a small molecule drug has been developed and characterized. Microcrystalline cellulose core beads containing 5-aminosalicylic acid produced by extrusion-spheronization were coated with chitosan and Aquacoat(®) ECD mixtures according to a factorial design. Coated beads were characterized in terms of drug release, shape, and friability. The optimum formulation was enteric coated and exposed to media simulating conditions in the stomach, small intestine, and colon. Release studies in simulated intestinal fluid revealed that the drug release rate from the coated beads, which were spherical and rugged, depended on the level of chitosan in the coat and the coat thickness. Enlarged pores observed on the surface of the coated beads exposed to the medium containing rat cecal and colonic enzymes are believed to have caused a significant enhancement of the drug release rate compared to the control exposed only to simulated gastric and intestinal fluids. The release mechanisms involved polymer relaxation and dissolved drug diffusion for simulated intestinal fluid and simulated colonic fluid, respectively. From the facilitated drug release in a colonic environment and the inhibition of drug release under gastric and intestinal conditions, it can be concluded that this multiparticulate system demonstrates the potential for colon-specific drug delivery.

Evidence for an enhancing effect of alginate on iron availability in Caco-2 cells

The potential use of alginates as a vehicle for water-soluble (bioavailable) iron for fortifying food products was examined using a Caco-2 cell model system. Cell monolayers were exposed to alginates with various mannuronic to guluronic acid ratios at three different concentrations, and cellular ferritin was measured as a surrogate marker of iron uptake into the cell. Ferritin concentrations were significantly higher when the cells were treated with ferric ammonium citrate and 0.5 and 1% w/v (but not 0.1%) alginate, but were unaffected by mannuronic/guluronic acid ratios. The enhancing effect of ascorbic acid was maintained with 0.1% alginate and significantly increased with 0.5 and 1% alginate, whereas the inhibitory effect of tannic acid was significantly reduced with 0.5% alginate. Alginate beads delivered available iron to Caco-2 cells, indicating that they are a promising vehicle for soluble iron with potential use in food fortification programs.

Alginate graft copolymers and alginate-co-excipient physical mixture in oral drug delivery

OBJECTIVES

Use of alginate graft copolymers in oral drug delivery reduces dosage form manufacture complexity with reference to mixing or coating processes. It is deemed to give constant or approximately steady weight ratio of alginate to covalently attached co-excipient in copolymers, thereby leading to controllable matrix processing and drug release. This review describes various grafting approaches and their outcome on oral drug release behaviour of alginate graft copolymeric matrices. It examines drug release modulation mechanism of alginate graft copolymers against that of co-excipients in non-grafted formulations.

KEY FINDINGS

Drug release from alginate matrices can be modulated through using either co-excipients or graft copolymers via changing their swelling, erosion, hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity, porosity and/or drug adsorption capacity. However, it is not known if the drug delivery performance of formulations prepared using alginate graft copolymers is superior to those incorporating graft-equivalent co-excipient physically in a dosage form without grafting but at the corresponding graft weight, owing to limited studies being available.

CONCLUSIONS

The value of alginate graft copolymers as the potential alternative to alginate-co-excipient physical mixture in oral drug delivery cannot be entirely defined by past and present research. Such an issue is complicated by the lack of green chemistry graft copolymer synthesis approach, high grafting process cost, complications and hazards, and the formed graft copolymers having unknown toxicity. Future research will need to address these matters to achieve a widespread commercialization and industrial application of alginate graft copolymers in oral drug delivery.