A Comparative Study between A Protein Based Amorphous Formulation and Other Dissolution Rate Enhancing Approaches: A Case Study with Rifaximin

• Auteurs principaux: Xuezhi Zhuo (Auteur), Maud Margrethe Brekstad Kjellin (Auteur), Zarah Schaal (Auteur), Tengyu Zhang (Auteur), Korbinian Löbmann (Auteur), Donglei Leng (Auteur)
• Format: Livre
• Publié: MDPI AG, 2022-12-01T00:00:00Z.
• Sujets: article
• Accès en ligne: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15010126; 1999-4923
• Keywords: amorphous solid dispersion; β-lactoglobulin; polymer; dissolution; nanocrystal; Pharmacy and materia medica; RS1-441
• Source: Pharmaceutics, Vol 15, Iss 1, p 126 (2022)

Amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) based on proteins as co-formers have previously shown promising potential to improve the solubility and bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs. In particular, whey proteins have shown to be promising co-formers and amorphous stabilizers in ASD formulations, including at high drug loading. In this study, the feasibility of the whey protein β-lactoglobulin (BLG) as a co-former in ASDs was compared to the more traditional ASD co-formers based on synthetic polymers (hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate and Eudragit^® L) as well as to a nanocrystalline formulation. The poorly water-soluble drug rifaximin (RFX) was chosen as the model drug. All drug/co-former formulations were prepared as fully amorphous ASDs by spray drying at 50% (<i>w</i>/<i>w</i>) drug loading. The BLG-based ASD had the highest glass transition temperature and showed a faster dissolution rate and higher drug solubility in three release media with different pH values (1.2, 4.5, and 6.5) compared to the polymer-based ASDs and the nanocrystalline RFX. In conclusion, BLG is a promising co-former and amorphous stabilizer of RFX in ASD formulations, superior to the selected polymer-based ASD systems or the nanocrystalline formulation.