European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

ORAL NANOEMULSION DELIVERY SYSTEMS OF QUETIAPINE FUMARATE FOR IMPROVED DISSOLUTION: DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION

Jyothshna Devi K.*, Prasanna Raju Y. and Subba Rao D.

ABSTRACT

To evaluate the possibility of improved oral drug delivery for quetiapine fumarate, a BCS class II drug incorporated in nanoemulsions. Five drug loaded formulations were developed. Effects of components selection were studied by pseudoternary-phase diagrams of nanoemulsion system composed of corn oil as oil phase, Tween 80 and labrasol as surfactant, propylene carbonate as cosurfactants and deionized water. The highest nanoemulsion region was achieved at labrasol/propylene carbonate in the mass ratio of 2:1. Reproducible characteristics like dilution test, percent transmittance, emulsification efficiency, pH and viscosity of all quetiapine loaded nanoemulsions were investigated. In vitro dissolution study of optimized nanoemulsion formulation, with diameter <100 nm, showed more than twofold increase in drug release as compared with pure drug. According to the results of stability studies, nanosystems exhibited no stratification, creaming or cracking. In addition optimized formulation has shown 99.2% drug content with non-Fickian supercase–II transport diffusion mechanism of drug release from the systems. The results demonstrated the impending use of this system is a perfect technique for improving solubility and dissolution of quetiapine fumarate in antipsychotic therapy.

Keywords: Components. Oral nanoemulsion, Solubility. Stability. Ternary diagram.