Effect of menthol as solid cosolvent on the solubility enhancement of clozapine and lamorigine in supercritical CO2

Improving and measuring the solubility of favipiravir and montelukast in SC-CO2 with ethanol projecting their nanonization

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2)-based approaches have become more popular in recent years as alternative methods for creating micro- or nanosized medicines. Particularly, high drug solubility is required in those techniques using SC-CO2 as a solvent. During the most recent pandemic years, favipiravir and montelukast were two of the most often prescribed medications for the treatment of COVID-19. In this study, ethanol at 1 and 3 mol% was utilized as a cosolvent to increase the solubility of both medicines in SC-CO2 by a static approach using a range of temperatures (308 to 338 K) and pressure (12 to 30 MPa) values. The experimentally determined solubilities of favipiravir and montelukast in SC-CO2 + 3 mol% ethanol showed solubility values up to 33.3 and 24.5 times higher than that obtained for these drugs with only SC-CO2. The highest values were achieved in the pressure of 12 MPa and temperature of 338 K. Last but not least, six density-based semi-empirical models with various adjustable parameters were used to perform the modeling of the solubility of favipiravir and montelukast.

Melting Point Depression of Poly(ethylene oxide)-Poly(propylene oxide)-Poly(ethylene oxide) Triblock Polymers in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide in the Presence of Menthol as a Solid Co-Plasticiser

The melting behaviour of the triblock polymers, Pluronic F38, F68, F77, F108, and F127, was investigated in pressurised CO2 and in the presence of menthol. The melting points of the polymers combined with 0, 10, 25, and 50 wt% of menthol were studied at atmospheric pressure and compared with those at 10 and 20 MPa in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2). The highest melting point depressions of 16.8 ± 0.5 °C and 29.0 ± 0.3 °C were observed at 10 and 20 MPa, respectively. The melting point of triblock polymers in pressurised CO2 was found to be dependent on molecular weight, poly(propylene oxide) (PPO) content, and menthol percentage. The melting point of most of the polymers studied in this work can be reduced to room temperature, which can be pivotal to the formulation development of thermolabile substances using these polymers.

A critical review on the particle generation and other applications of rapid expansion of supercritical solution

The novel particle generation processes of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API)/drug have been extensively explored in recent decades due to their wide-range applications in the pharmaceutical industry. The Rapid Expansion of Supercritical Solutions (RESS) is one of the promising techniques to obtain the fine particles (micro to nano-size) of APIs with narrow particle size distribution (PSD). In RESS, supercritical carbon dioxide (SC CO₂) and API are used as solvent and solute respectively. In this literature survey, the application of RESS in the formation of fine particles is critically reviewed. Solubility of API in SC CO₂ and supersaturation are the key factors in tuning the particle size. The different approaches to model and predict the solubility of API in SC CO₂ are discussed. Then, the effect of process parameters on mean particle size and the particle size distribution are interpreted in the context of solubility and supersaturation. Furthermore, the less-explored applications of RESS in preparation of solid-lipid nanoparticles, liposome, polymorphic conversion, cocrystallization and inclusion complexation are compared with traditional processes. The solubility enhancement of API in SC CO₂ using co-solvent and its applications in particle generation are explored in published literature. The development and modifications in the conventional RESS process to overcome the limitations of RESS are presented. Finally, the perspective on RESS with special attention to its commercial operation is highlighted.

Solubility of Ketoconazole (antifungal drug) in SC-CO2 for binary and ternary systems: measurements and empirical correlations

One of the main steps in choosing the drug nanoparticle production processes by supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO₂) is determining the solubility of the solid solute. For this purpose, the solubility of Ketoconazole (KTZ) in the SC-CO₂, binary system, as well as in the SC-CO₂-menthol (cosolvent), ternary system, was measured at 308–338 K and 12–30 MPa using the static analysis method. The KTZ solubility in the SC-CO₂ ranged between 0.20 × 10^–6 and 8.02 × 10^–5, while drug solubility in the SC-CO₂ with cosolvent varied from 1.2 × 10^–5 to 1.96 × 10^–4. This difference indicated the significant effect of menthol cosolvent on KTZ solubility in the SC-CO₂. Moreover, KTZ solubilities in the two systems were correlated by several empirical and semiempirical models. Among them, Sodeifian et al., Bian et al., MST, and Bartle et al. models can more accurately correlate experimental data for the binary system than other used models. Also, the Sodeifian and Sajadian model well fitted the solubility data of the ternary system with AARD% = 6.45, R_adj = 0.995.

Formulation and In Vivo Evaluation of Ticagrelor Self-nanoemulsifying Drug Delivery Systems

BACKGROUND

Ticagrelor (TGR), being an antiplatelet agent, belongs to BCS class IV drug with low solubility and permeability that undergoes first-pass metabolism, leading to reduced bioavailability of 36%.

OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this study is to develop TGR SNEDDS for enhancing solubility and oral bioavailability.

METHODS

An oil, surfactant and co-surfactant (miglyol 810, brij 35 and lauro glycol FCC) are chosen based on the maximum solubility of TGR. The selected vehicles are mixed in different ratios and are agitated mildly. Transmittance values that are more than 80 were noted and are used for constructing pseudo ternary phase diagram. Formulations that passed stability testing were evaluated for % transmission, drug content and in vitro drug release analysis. In vivo bioavailability studies of optimized SNEDDS are performed in Wistar rats.

RESULTS

From evaluation studies of TGR, formulation F13 with maximum drug release of 98.99% in 60 minutes, that is higher than 31.99% of the pure drug is considered as an optimised formulation. The particle size, Z average and zeta potential of the optimized TGR formulation F13 was 289.6 nm, 185.1 nm and -18.3 mV respectively. The FTIR and SEM studies do not indicate any drug excipient interaction and confirm nano size which is stable for 3 months. From in vivo bioavailability studies in rats, the C_max of optimized TGR SNEDDS (302.43±4.78 ng/ml) is higher than pure TGR suspension (47.32±2.75 ng/ml) and optimized SNEDDS exhibited 5 folds increase in oral bioavailability when compared to pure drug.

CONCLUSION

Hence the results reveal that, application of SNEDDS formulation technique for TGR Increases solubility and oral bioavailability.