RESUMEN
A range of enteric polymers is used in pharmaceutical industry for developing gastro-resistant formulations. It is generally implied that these coatings are interchangeable due to similar dissolution pH thresholds reported by suppliers. Despite rapid dissolution in compendial phosphate buffers, these products can take up to 2â¯h to disintegrate in-vivo in the human small intestine. The factors primarily responsible for such variability in dissolution of these polymeric coatings are the differences in ionisation of acidic functional groups on polymer chains and their interplay with ions and buffer species present in gastrointestinal fluids. In this study, we aim to develop a novel, simple and inexpensive technique that can be used under various in-vitro conditions to study the ionisation behaviour of commonly used polymers (EUDRAGIT-E100, L100, S100, HPMC AS-LF, AS-HF, HP-50, HP-55) and to estimate their pKa. Moreover, this method was successfully applied to study the ionisation behaviour of a range of natural polymers (Guar, Tara, locust bean, Konjac gums, gum Arabic, citrus pectin, chitosan and alginate) and their pKa was also estimated. The proposed method would allow a better understanding of the dissolution behaviour of these polymers within gastrointestinal tract and will aid rational design of modified release dosage forms.
RESUMEN
Capsules are a widely used oral dosage form due to their simplicity and ease of manufacture. They are equally popular for both pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products and since they do not need extensive formulation development, it is a dosage form of choice for new drugs undergoing animal or clinical trials. In addition to the standard hard-gelatin or cellulose-based vegetarian capsules, functional capsules such as those with built-in gastroresistance would be of great value. In this work, commonly used enteric polymers were investigated for the production of hard-capsules. The polymers used in this study included cellulose derivatives (HPMC AS-LF and HP-55) and acrylic/methacrylic acid derivatives (EUDRAGIT L100 and S100). A range of concentrations of polymers and plasticisers were tested to optimise the formulation for the production of capsule shells with desirable physicochemical and gastroresistance characteristics. Drug release from optimised capsules produced from HPMC AS-LF, HP-55, EUDRAGIT L100 and S100 was shown to be comparable to drug release from corresponding polymer-coated tablets in both compendial and physiological bicarbonate buffer. In summary, herein we report a simple method for producing enteric capsule shells which do not need an additional coating step which, if validated at large scale, can significantly reduce the cost of manufacturing of conventional enteric coated dosage forms. These capsules are also likely to improve the inter-tablet variability in post-gastric drug release inherent in conventional dosage forms due to coating variability.
Asunto(s)
Cápsulas/química , Polímeros/química , Bicarbonatos/química , Tampones (Química) , Celulosa/química , Química Farmacéutica/métodos , Preparaciones de Acción Retardada/química , Sistemas de Liberación de Medicamentos/métodos , Liberación de Fármacos/efectos de los fármacos , Excipientes/química , Gelatina/química , Concentración de Iones de Hidrógeno , Metacrilatos/química , Metilcelulosa/análogos & derivados , Metilcelulosa/química , Ácidos Polimetacrílicos/química , Solubilidad/efectos de los fármacos , Comprimidos/químicaRESUMEN
A novel strategy for immobilization of CdTe quantum dots (QDs) onto amino functionalized solid supports was developed. QDs capped with compounds holding an amino group were covalently bonded to the substrate under mild reaction conditions, exhibiting great stability and strong luminescence.
Asunto(s)
Cisteína/química , Glutatión/química , Puntos Cuánticos , Aminas/química , Compuestos de Cadmio/química , Glutatión/metabolismo , Microscopía Fluorescente , Espectroscopía Infrarroja por Transformada de Fourier , Propiedades de Superficie , Telurio/químicaRESUMEN
Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals or quantum dots (QDs) are one of the most relevant developments in the fast-growing world of nanotechnology. Initially proposed as luminescent biological labels, they are finding new important fields of application in analytical chemistry, where their photoluminescent properties have been exploited in environmental monitoring, pharmaceutical and clinical analysis and food quality control. Despite the enormous variety of applications that have been developed, the automation of QDs-based analytical methodologies by resorting to automation tools such as continuous flow analysis and related techniques, which would allow to take advantage of particular features of the nanocrystals such as the versatile surface chemistry and ligand binding ability, the aptitude to generate reactive species, the possibility of encapsulation in different materials while retaining native luminescence providing the means for the implementation of renewable chemosensors or even the utilisation of more drastic and even stability impairing reaction conditions, is hitherto very limited. In this review, we provide insights into the analytical potential of quantum dots focusing on prospects of their utilisation in automated flow-based and flow-related approaches and the future outlook of QDs applications in chemical analysis.