Abstract
This study evaluated the feasibility of liquisolid compact as an innovative drug delivery system to improve the solubility of the poorly soluble drug Nifedipine. There are several techniques to enhance the dissolution of poorly soluble drugs. Among them, the technique of liquisolid compact is most promising technique towards novel aim. Several formulations of liquisolid compact having different drug concentration (20-40% w/w) and with varying ratios of carrier and coating material (i.e. different R value, from15-20) were prepared. In this study Polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG400) as a solvent, Avicel PH 102 as a carrier and Aerosil-200 as a coating material were used. The interaction between excipients was examined by Attenuated Total Reflectance infrared spectroscopy. DSC suggested loss of nifedipine crystallinity upon liquisolid formulation, it indicates that drug is held within the power substrate in a solubilised, almost molecularly dispersed state, which lead to enhanced drug solubility. The results showed that liquisolid compacts demonstrate significantly higher drug release rates than those of marketed ones (% drug release of marketed product-19.5% and LS3-28.5% after 10 minutes). This was due to an increase in wetting properties and surface of drug available for dissolution. Increased wetting properties and dissolution rates lead to enhance solubility. The liquisolid technique appears to be a promising approach for improving the solubility of poorly soluble drugs.
