Iman S. Ahmed

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of nimesulide lyophilized orally disintegrating tablets

Development of a lyophilized orally disintegrating tablet (ODT) that enhanced the in vitro dissolution and in vivo absorption of nimesulide (NM), a drug with poor solubility and poor bioavailability, is presented. The ODTs were prepared by freeze-drying an aqueous dispersion of NM containing a matrix former, a sugar alcohol, and a collapse protectant. In addition, different disintegration accelerators were tested. The influence of formulation parameters on the disintegration time and in vitro dissolution of NM from ODTs along with other tablet characteristics was investigated. Results obtained from disintegration and dissolution studies showed that lyophilized ODTs disintegrated within few seconds and showed significantly faster dissolution rate of NM compared to the plain powder drug and NM in commercially available immediate release tablet Sulide. The ODTs were also examined using differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscope. Stability results, after 12-month storage of selected ODTs at 25 degrees C and 60% relative humidity, were satisfactory. The extent of absorption of NM from a selected ODT when compared to an conventional immediate release tablet as a reference after administration of 100mg oral dose of NM was determined in healthy subjects using a randomized crossover design. In this study, the rate of absorption of NM from ODT was faster than that from the reference tablet, had a significantly higher (p=0.012) peak plasma concentration, and shortened time to C(max) by 1h (p=0.029). The extent of absorption expressed by AUC was 62% larger when compared to the commercially available tablet.

Formulation of a Fast-Dissolving Ketoprofen Tablet Using Freeze-Drying in Blisters Technique

ABSTRACT The aim of this work was to develop a ketoprofen tablet which dissolve-rapidly in the mouth, therefore, needing not be swallowed. The solubility and dissolution rate of poorly water-soluble ketoprofen was improved by preparing a lyophilized tablet (LT) of ketoprofen using freeze-drying technique. The LT was prepared by dispersing the drug in an aqueous solution of highly water-soluble carrier materials consisting of gelatin, glycine, and sorbitol. The mixture was dosed into the pockets of blister packs and then was subjected to freezing and lyophilization. The saturation solubility and dissolution characteristics of ketoprofen from the LT were investigated and compared to the plain drug and the physical mixture (PM). Results obtained showed that the increase in solubility of ketoprofen from LT matrix, nearly three times greater than the solubility of the plain drug, was due to supersaturation generated by amorphous form of the drug. Results obtained from dissolution studies showed that LT of ketoprofen significantly improved the dissolution rate of the drug compared with the PM and the plain drug. More than 95% of ketoprofen in LT dissolved within 5 min compared to only 45% of ketoprofen plain drug dissolved during 60 min. Initial dissolution rate of ketoprofen in LT was almost tenfold higher than that of ketoprofen powder alone. Crystalline state evaluation of ketoprofen in LT was conducted through differential scanning calorimetry (DCS) and x-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) to denote eventual transformation to amorphous state during the process. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) analysis was performed and results suggest reduction in ketoprofen particle size.

Effect of Simulated Gastrointestinal Conditions on Drug Release from Pectin/Ethylcellulose as Film Coating for Drug Delivery to the Colon

The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of acidic pH representative of gastric fluid on the release of 5-aminosalicylic acid from beads coated with pectin/ethylcellulose as film coating intended for drug delivery to the colon, in media mimicking the lower gastrointestinal (GI) tract and representative of colonic conditions. In this work, the in vitro incubation of the beads in acid medium was found to influence the hydration and the swelling characteristics of pectin after transfer into simulated intestinal fluid and simulated cecal fluid containing pectinolytic enzymes. Moreover, the drug release profiles from the beads in simulated intestinal fluid after incubation for 2 h or 30 min in simulated gastric fluid vs. no acid incubation were found to be very different. The in vitro degradation of pectin in the coat by pectinolytic enzymes in simulated cecal fluid depended on whether the beads were placed in simulated gastric fluid prior to testing in simulated intestinal fluid. The percentage drug release also depended on the ratio of pectin to ethylcellulose in the coat.

Pilot Study of Relative Bioavailability of Two Oral Formulations of Ketoprofen 25 mg in Healthy Subjects. A Fast-Dissolving Lyophilized Tablet as Compared to Immediate Release Tablet

ABSTRACT The pharmacokinetics of ketoprofen from a fast-dissolving lyophilized tablet (LT), which need not be swallowed, as compared to an immediate release (IR) tablet as reference after single oral dose (25 mg) administration was determined in six healthy subjects aged between 25–40 years using a randomized crossover design. In this study, the rate and extent of absorption of ketoprofen were found to be very different after administration of the LT and the IR tablet. The rate of absorption of ketoprofen from LT was significantly faster than that of IR tablet and had significantly higher Cmax (by about 50%) and earlier tmax (by 15 min), whereas the extent of absorption expressed by AUC was about 68% higher as compared to the IR tablet. The relative bioavailability (frel) of the LT compared with the IR tablet was 168%. The difference between the two formulations for half-life and MRT were statistically significant (p < 0.05). The tolerance of the two tested formulations was excellent. Ketoprofen LT remained physically and chemically stable for 12 months at 25°C and 60% relative humidity.

Relative bioavailability of griseofulvin lyophilized dry emulsion tablet vs. immediate release tablet: A single-dose, randomized, open-label, six-period, crossover study in healthy adult volunteers in the fasted and fed states

The oral bioavailability of griseofulvin (GF) formulated as a fast disintegrating lyophilized dry emulsion (LDE) tablet was studied and compared to the commercially available immediate release (IR) tablet, as a reference, in both the fasted and fed states in nine healthy volunteers after a single oral dose (125 mg) in a crossover design. Furthermore the LDE tablets were ingested with and without water under both the fasted and fed states. In the fasted state, the rate of absorption was found to be significantly faster from LDE tablets, in the presence and absence of water, as shown by a higher C(max) (more than two times higher, p=0.0001) and a shorter t(max) (by more than 3h, p=0.0001) compared to IR tablets. The extent of absorption, expressed as AUC, from LDE tablets in the presence and absence of water was 65% and 77% larger and statistically significantly different relative to the mean AUC from IR tablets (p=0.006). In the fed state, C(max) from LDE tablets ingested with and without water was found to be about 30% and 50% higher, respectively, than the immediate release tablets. A shorter t(max) was also shown whether LDE tablets were ingested with or without water in the fed state as compared to immediate release tablets. The mean AUC from LDE tablets under fed conditions in the presence of water was about 21% larger and was not statistically significantly different from AUC from immediate release tablets (p=0.517). When ingested without water, AUC from LDE tablets was about 43% larger and statistically significantly different relative to AUC from IR tablets (p=0.033). The mean AUC from the LDE tablet ingested with water under fed conditions relative to AUC from LDE tablet ingested without water was not statistically significantly different (p=0.454). Results show that the food effect of the high fat meal is very pronounced in case of the immediate release tablets, Fulvin, than in case of LDE tablets whether given with or without water.

Enhanced gene transfection using calcium phosphate co-precipitates and low-intensity pulsed ultrasound

The capability to controllably disrupt the cell membrane by ultrasound (US), thus facilitating entry of exogenous species, has now reached a state of some maturity. However, a compelling question asks whether there is a residual role for US in enhancing transfection: that is, once the genetic material has been delivered to the cytosol, can US assist in its transport into the nucleus? The present experiment was designed with a view to addressing this question. As such, our experimental setup discriminates between: (i) the precursor cell membrane permealization step, and (ii) any subsequent intracellular trafficking into the nucleus. In this study, calcium phosphate co-precipitates (CaP) were used to internalize plasmid DNA encoding for luciferase (pDNA-Luc) (>90%) in HeLa cells. After 2h incubation with the CaP-pDNA-Luc, cells were washed and insonated for varying durations. The results showed that US can indeed enhance the intracellular trafficking of previously internalized genes when longer insonation periods are implemented, culminating with an increased probability for successful nuclear localization, as inferred from an enhanced luciferase expression. Moreover, the results suggest that the intracellular role of US might be mediated through a pathway that appears not to be limited to destabilizing the endosomal vesicles. The study thus provides new information regarding the intracellular effects of US, and in effect represents a new modality combining US and CaP carriers for improved efficiency in gene delivery.

Comparison of in vitro and in vivo performance of a colonic delivery system

The aim of this work is to compare in vitro to in vivo performance of a colonic drug delivery system, made of small pectin-ethylcellulose coated drug beads. The delivery system was evaluated in vitro by conducting drug release studies in different dissolution media to mimic transit times and pH conditions in the stomach, small intestine and colon and in vivo by using gamma-scintigraphic studies in dogs and absorption studies in human volunteers under fed and fasted conditions. In vitro release studies indicated that drug release rate depended on the ratio of the pectin to ethylcellulose in the coat and the thickness of the coat. In vivo release studies obtained by deconvolution of biostudy data did not correlate with in vitro results obtained from most coat formulations. Beads showing ideal release profiles in vitro showed very poor performance in vivo and only those beads showing colonic premature drug release in vitro might be able to deliver the drug to the colon. Scintigraphic studies of a selected formulation showed that the labeled beads had an estimated gastric emptying time of 3 h, an estimated small intestine transit time of 2 h and an estimated colonic transit time of 36 h. Average in vivo lag times of the selected formulation from absorption studies in humans were found to be 6.1 h and 4.8 h under fed and fasted conditions, respectively. The C(max) was also observed at 6.8 h and 5.5 h on average, under fed and fasted conditions, respectively, which might indicate that release of drug from the beads, resulted from degradation of pectin in the coat by enzymatic action in the colon rather than by simple diffusion. Deconvolution of biostudy data showed that drug absorption continued on average for at least 12 h under both fed and fasted conditions.

Development and optimization of lyophilized orally disintegrating tablets using factorial design

The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of maltodextrin as a sugar-matrix former along with several cellulosic binders in the preparation of freeze—dried orally disintegrating tablets (ODT). The ODT was prepared by freeze—drying an aqueous dispersion of nimesulide (NM) containing maltodextrin and a cellulosic binder. The influence of formulation parameters on the in vitro/in vivo disintegration time and in vitro dissolution of NM from ODTs along with other tablet characteristics was investigated using full factorial design. The optimized ODT contained 5% w/v maltodextrin DE 29, 2% w/v Methocel®E15, and 5% w/v NM, disintegrated in less than 10 s and showed more than 70% of NM in ODTs dissolved within 2 min, compared to only 1.52% of NM plain drug and 7.25% of NM in immediate release commercial tablet. Crystalline state evaluation of NM in the optimized ODT was conducted through differential scanning calorimetry, and X-ray powder diffraction. The study suggests that the optimized ODT formulation developed in this work may be an alternative to conventional formulations of NM inconvenient to the patients such as intramuscular or rectal administration.

Effect of lyophilized grapefruit juice on P-glycoprotein-mediated drug transport in-vitro and in-vivo.

Abstract The administration of grapefruit juice (GFJ) has been postulated to inhibit the activity of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) transport system and thus can enhance the uptake of substrate drugs. However, for various reasons, the results obtained have been always swaying between confirmation and refutation. This study aims at re-evaluating the effect of lyophilized freshly-prepared grapefruit juice (LGFJ) prepared from the whole peeled fruit on P-gp activity using the model drug doxorubicin (DOX) in-vitro and timolol maleate (TM) in-vivo. Human uterine sarcoma MES-SA/DX5v cells, grown under nanomolar concentration of DOX and highly expressing P-gp, were used as model cells for in-vitro studies whereas white New Zealand male rabbits were used for in-vivo studies. Results showed that the accumulation of DOX in MES-SA/DX5v cells was increased by 18.3 ± 2.0% in presence of LGFJ compared to control experiments. Results from in-vivo absorption studies showed that the relative oral bioavailability of TM ingested with LGFJ was significantly higher by 70% and 43% compared to the oral bioavailability of TM ingested with saline and a commercial GFJ, respectively. This study as such confirms the inhibitory effects of LGFJ on P-gp efflux proteins and highlights the superiority of using lyophilized freshly prepared juices over the commercially available juices in research studies. Also, the results call for further studies to assess the possibility of co-administrating LGFJ with anti-cancer agents to modulate multidrug resistance in their cellular environment or incorporating LGFJ in solid dosage forms to improve oral bioavailability of drugs.

PD-PK evaluation of freeze-dried atorvastatin calcium-loaded poly-ε-caprolactone nanoparticles.

In this work lyophilized poly-ε-caprolactone nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with atorvastatin calcium (AC) were developed in an attempt to improve the in-vivo performance of AC following oral administration. The individual and combined effects of several formulation variables were previously investigated using step-wise full factorial designs in order to produce optimized AC-NPs with predetermined characteristics including particle size, drug loading capacity, drug release profile and physical stability. Four optimized formulations were further subjected in this work to lyophilization to promote their long-term physical stability and were fully characterized. The pharmacodynamics (PD)/pharmacokinetics (PK) properties of two optimized freeze-dried AC-NPs formulations showing acceptable long-term stability were determined and compared to a marketed AC immediate release tablet (Lipitor(®)) in albino rats. PD results revealed that the two tested formulations were equally effective in reducing low density lipoproteins (LDL) and triglycerides (TG) levels when given in reduced doses compared to Lipitor(®) and showed no adverse effects. PK results, on the other hand, revealed that the two freeze-dried AC-NPs formulations were of significantly lower bioavailability compared to Lipitor(®). Taken together the PD and PK results demonstrate that the improved efficacy obtained at reduced doses from the freeze-dried AC-NPs could be due to increased concentration of AC in the liver rather than in the plasma.