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    Metronidazole within phosphatidylcholine lipid membranes: New insights to improve the design of imidazole derivatives
    Metronidazole is a imidazole derivative with antibacterial and antiprotozoal activity. Despite its therapeutic efficacy, several studies have been developing new imidazole derivatives with lower toxicity. Considering that drug-membrane interactions are key factors for drugs pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties, the aim of this work is to provide new insights into the structure–toxicity relationship of metronidazole within phosphatidylcholine membranes. For that purpose, lipid membrane models (liposomes and monolayers) composed of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine were used. Experimental techniques (determination of partition coefficients and Langmuir isotherm measurements) were combined with molecular dynamics simulations. Different pHs and lipid phases were evaluated to enable a better extrapolation for in vivo conditions. The partition of metronidazole depends on the pH and on the biphasic system (octanol/water or DPPC/water system). At pH 1.2, metronidazole is hydrophilic. At pH 7.4, metronidazole disturbs the order and the packing of phospholipids. For this toxic effect, the hydroxyl group of the side chain of metronidazole is crucial by interacting with the water embedded in the membrane and with the phosphate group and the apolar chains of phospholipids.
    Publicationtype: Journal Article
      182
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    Alginate-based hybrid aerogel microparticles for mucosal drug delivery
    The application of biopolymer aerogels as drug delivery systems (DDS) has gained increased interest during the last decade since these structures have large surface area and accessible pores allowing for high drug loadings. Being biocompatible, biodegradable and presenting low toxicity, polysaccharide-based aerogels are an attractive carrier to be applied in pharmaceutical industry. Moreover, some polysaccharides (e.g. alginate and chitosan) present mucoadhesive properties, an important feature for mucosal drug delivery. This feature allows to extend the contact of DDS with biological membranes, thereby increasing the absorption of drugs through the mucosa. Alginate-based hybrid aerogels in the form of microparticles (<50 μm) were investigated in this work as carriers for mucosal administration of drugs. Low methoxyl pectin and κ-carrageenan were co-gelled with alginate and further dried with supercritical CO2 (sc-CO2). Spherical mesoporous aerogel microparticles were obtained for alginate, hybrid alginate/pectin and alginate/κ-carrageenan aerogels, presenting high specific surface area (370–548 m2 g−1) and mucoadhesive properties. The microparticles were loaded with ketoprofen via adsorption from its solution in sc-CO2, and with quercetin via supercritical anti-solvent precipitation. Loading of ketoprofen was in the range between 17 and 22 wt% whereas quercetin demonstrated loadings of 3.1–5.4 wt%. Both the drugs were present in amorphous state. Loading procedure allowed the preservation of antioxidant activity of quercetin. Release of both drugs from alginate/κ-carrageenan aerogel was slightly faster compared to alginate/pectin. The results indicate that alginate-based aerogel microparticles can be viewed as promising matrices for mucosal drug delivery applications.
    Publicationtype: Journal Article
      96
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    Enhancement of griseofulvin release from liquisolid compacts
    The potential of hydrophilic aerogel formulations and liquisolid systems to improve the release of poorly soluble drugs was investigated using griseofulvin as model drug. The in vitro release rates of this drug formulated as directly compressed tablets containing crystalline griseofulvin were compared to aerogel tablets with the drug adsorbed onto hydrophilic silica aerogel and to liquisolid compacts containing the drug dissolved or suspended in PEG 300. Furthermore, the commonly used carrier and coating materials in liquisolid systems Avicel® and Aerosil® were replaced by Neusilin®, an amorphous magnesium aluminometasilicate with an extremely high specific surface area of 339 m 2/g to improve the liquisolid approach. Both the liquisolid compacts containing the drug dissolved in PEG 300 and the aerogel tablets showed a considerably faster drug release than the directly compressed tablets. With liquisolid compacts containing the drug suspended in PEG 300, the release rate increased with rising fraction of dissolved drug in the liquid portion. It could be shown that Neusilin® with its sevenfold higher liquid adsorption capacity than the commonly used Avicel® and Aerosil® allows the production of liquisolid formulations with lower tablet weights.
    Publicationtype: Journal Article
    Scopus© Citations 56  22
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    Hydrophilic silica aerogels as dermal drug delivery systems - Dithranol as a model drug
    (Elsevier, 2008-02-14) ; ;
    A special class of porous silica materials, silica aerogels, was recently shown to be a potential candidate for oral drug delivery systems. It was demonstrated, that stability of drugs and their dissolution rate can essentially be improved through the adsorption on to these materials. In this work, drug loaded silica aerogels are firstly applied as dermal drug delivery systems. Dithranol is used as a representative drug since there is a need to enhance its dermal availability. The unstable and nearly water-insoluble drug exhibits a poor penetration. Release of dithranol from aerogels into various semi-solid formulations and its dissolution as well as the release and penetration into artificial membranes were investigated by Fourier-transform infrared attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR) spectroscopy. Two model membranes (one hydrophilic and one lipophilic) were applied. Several formulations were tested and the most promising one was used in order to study the penetration of dithranol into human stratum corneum (SC). Dithranol adsorbed on hydrophilic silica aerogels exhibited superior penetration behaviour compared to that of the standard ointment (dithranol in white soft paraffin).
    Publicationtype: Journal Article
    Scopus© Citations 80  32