Factors affecting the stability and performance of ipratropium bromide; fenoterol hydrobromide pressurized-metered dose inhalers

Chromatographic fingerprinting of ipratropium and fenoterol in their novel co-formulated inhaler treating major respiratory disorders; application to delivered dose uniformity testing along with greenness and whiteness assessment

Ipratropium bromide (IPR) and fenoterol hydrobromide (FEN) have recently been combined in a promising inhaler to treat two prevalent inflammatory illnesses of the airways: bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The necessity for a single, sensitive, and trustworthy analytical approach to cover the diverse and necessary tests of in-vitro and in-vivo studies is greatly grown with the rising production of new fixed combinations. Two novel, selective and environmentally friendly LC techniques were developed in order to guarantee precise measurement of IPR and FEN in their challenging formulation. The initial technique involved high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) in conjunction with densitometric quantification. Chromatographic separation was attained on HPTLC plates utilizing ethyl acetate - ethanol - acetic acid (5.0:5.0:0.1, by volume) as a developing system. Densitometric quantification of the separated bands was carried out at 220.0 nm over concentration ranges of 0.50-15.0 µg/band for IPR and 0.50-12.0 µg/band for FEN. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) paired with diode array detection (DAD) was the core of the second technique. The optimized separation was achieved on a Zorbax SB C18 (150 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) column with a combination of 10.0 mM potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate, pH 5.0 ± 0.1, adjusted with o-phosphoric acid and methanol (70:30, v/v) as the mobile phase and pumped at flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The peaks were monitored at 220.0 nm using diode array detection, achieving linearity range of 5.0-200.0 µg/mL for both drugs. The ICH criteria have been verified and both methods have been confirmed to be valid, and successfully applied for assay the cited drugs in the Atrovent® comp HFA metered dose inhaler as well as delivered dose uniformity testing of the final product. Finally, whiteness appraisal and several state-of-the-art green evaluation metrics were applied to evaluate the sustainability of the proposed methods. The suggested approaches produced promising results and are the first simple and sustainable methodologies for the simultaneous quantification of both drugs in different real samples, all of which strongly suggest their application in quality control laboratories.

Nanotechnology-Assisted Metered-Dose Inhalers (MDIs) for High-Performance Pulmonary Drug Delivery Applications

PURPOSE

Respiratory disorders pose a major threat to the morbidity and mortality to public health. Here we reviewed the nanotechnology based pulmonary drug delivery using metered dose inhalers.

METHODS

Major respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), asthma, acute lower respiratory tract infections, tuberculosis (TB) and lung cancer. At present, common treatments for respiratory disorders include surgery, radiation, immunotherapy, and chemotherapy or a combination. The major challenge is development of systemic delivery of the chemotherapeutic agents to the respiratory system. Conventional delivery of chemotherapy has various limitation and adverse side effected. Hence, targeted, and systemic delivery need to be developed. Towards this direction nanotechnology, based controlled, targeted, and systemic drug delivery systems are potential candidate to enhance therapeutic efficacy with minimum side effect. Among different route of administration, pulmonary delivery has unique benefits such as circumvents first pass hepatic metabolism and reduces dose and side effects.

RESULTS

Respiratory disorders pose a major threat to the morbidity and mortality to public health globally. Pulmonary delivery can be achieved through various drug delivery devices such as nebulizers, dry powder inhalers, and metered dose inhalers. Among them, metered dose inhalers are the most interesting and first choice of clinician over others. This review focused on nanotechnology based pulmonary drug delivery using metered dose inhalers. This report focused on delivery of various types of therapeutics using nanocarriers such as polymeric nanoparticles and micelles, dendrimers, lipid nanocarriers such as liposomes, solid lipid nanostructures and nanostructured lipid carriers, and other using metered dose inhalers discussed comprehensively. This report provides insight about the effect of parameters of MDI such as co-solvent, propellants, actuators shape, nozzle diameters, and jet lengths, and respiratory flow rate, and particle size of co-suspension of drug on aerodynamics and lung deposition of formulation. This review also provided the insight about various metered dose inhalers market scenario and digital metered dose inhalers.

CONCLUSION

This report concluded the clinical potential of metered dose inhalers, summary of current progress and future perspectives towards the smart digital metered dose inhalers development.

Quantitative analysis of povidone-iodine thin films by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and their physicochemical properties

In this study, povidone-iodine (PVP-I) has been formulated as a topical spray to produce a thin film for the controlled release of I2. By means of experimental design, 27 formulations containing glycerol, ethanol, PEG 400, copovidone and HFA 134a as a propellant were prepared. The pH values of all formulations were in the range of 6-7. The viscosity was within the range of 11.9-85.9 mPa s. The surface tensions were 20.3 to 24.6 mN m-1 and the contact angles were between 19.3 and 38.7°. The assays for the iodine contents were within acceptable range (80-120 %). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis revealed the ionized form of iodine was much higher than the unionized form. The MIC and MBC values of the PVP-I sprays against Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were higher than that of commercial PVP-I solution. The cytotoxicity study confirmed that the PVP-I spray had lower toxic effects on keratinocytes and fibroblasts compared to the commercial PVP-I solution. The formulation containing 59 % ethanol, 18 % copovidone and 12 % PEG 400 showed good antibacterial activity.

Advances in device and formulation technologies for pulmonary drug delivery

Inhaled pharmaceuticals are formulated and delivered differently according to the therapeutic indication. However, specific device-formulation coupling is often fickle, and new medications or indications also demand new strategies. The discontinuation of chlorofluorocarbon propellants has seen replacement of older metered dose inhalers with dry powder inhaler formulations. High-dose dry powder inhalers are increasingly seen as an alternative dosage form for nebulised medications. In other cases, new medications have completely bypassed conventional inhalers and been formulated for use with unique inhalers such as the Staccato® device. Among these different devices, integration of software and electronic assistance has become a shared trend. This review covers recent device and formulation advances that are forming the current landscape of inhaled therapeutics.