Author(s)

Deng-Guang Yu, Gareth R. Williams, Xia Wang, Jun-He Yang, Xiao-Yan Li, Wei Qian, Ying Li

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A modified electrospraying process is exploited to enhance the dissolution profiles of a poorly water-soluble drug. With polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a hydrophilic polymer matrix and ketoprofen (KET) as a model drug, polymer-drug composites in the form of nanoparticles were prepared and characterized. The surface morphologies, the physical status of the drug, and the drug-polymer interactions were studied using FESEM, DSC, XRD, and ATR-FTIR. FESEM observations demonstrated that the nanoparticles gradually decreased in size from 640 ± 350, to 530 ± 320, 460 ± 200 and 320 ± 160 nm as the KET content increased from 0, to 9.1%, 16.7% and 33.3% w/w, respectively. Results from DSC and XRD suggested that KET was distributed in the PVP matrix in an amorphous manner at the molecular level. This is thought to be due to their compatibility, arising through hydrogen bonding as demonstrated by ATR- FTIR spectra. In vitro dissolution tests showed that the nanoparticles released the incorporated KET within 1 min, evidencing markedly improved dissolution over pure KET and a KET-PVP physical mixture. Electrospraying can hence offer a facile route to develop new polymer composites for biomedical applications, in particular for improving dissolution rate of poorly water-soluble drugs.

Polymer Composites; Electrospraying; Poorly Water-Soluble Drug; Nanoparticles; Solid Dispersion; Polyvinylpyrrolidone

Yu, D. , Williams, G. , Wang, X. , Yang, J. , Li, X. , Qian, W. and Li, Y. (2011) Polymer-based nanoparticulate solid dispersions prepared by a modified electrospraying process. Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering, 4, 741-749. doi: 10.4236/jbise.2011.412091.