Bioaerogels: Promising materials for impregnation of drugs

Abstract

The following work examines the possibility of impregnating chosen model drug into bioaerogels to obtain final formulation with added value. The drug used in this study was esomeprazole, used to treat acid-related diseases. In the first part of the work, bioaerogels were prepared. Polysaccharide aerogels are lightweight biocompatible and biodegradable materials, suitable for applications in pharmaceutical industry. For this purpose, three different cores were prepared: pectin, alginate and their mixture, followed by coating with chitosan layer. The production of the bioaerogels follows a sol-gel synthesis and supercritical drying technique. All samples were characterised, and optimisation was performed based on examined properties. Aerogels having a pectin core and chitosan coating showed the highest surface area and the highest adsorption capacity. In the second part, the impregnation of esomeprazole was performed using two different methods: supercritical impregnation and diffusion via sol-gel synthesis. For supercritical impregnation, supercritical carbon dioxide was used as a solvent for impregnation of the drug. In the diffusion method, the model drug was added during sol-gel synthesis using ethanol as solvent. Finally, complete characterisation of prepared formulation followed by drug release studies was performed. The study showed successful impregnation of esomeprazole using either carbon dioxide or ethanol as a solvent. Bioaerogels proved to be promising as carriers for achieving the optimal release of the chosen drug

V diplomskem delu smo proučevali možnost impregnacije vzorčnega zdravila v bioaerogele z namenom, da dobimo učinkovito končno formulirano obliko. Kot vzorčno zdravilo smo uporabili esomeprazol, ki se uporablja za zdravljenje bolezni povezanih z želodčno kislino. V prvem delu diplome smo pripravili bioaerogele. Polisaharidni aerogeli so lahki biokompatibilni in biorazgradljivi materiali, ki so primerni za uporabo v farmacevtski industriji. Pektin, alginat in njuno mešanico smo uporabili za pripravo treh različnih jeder, ki smo jih nato prevlekli s plastjo hitozana. Bioaerogele smo sintetizirali s sol-gel sintezo in jih sušili s superkritičnim oglijkovim dioksidom. Opravili smo karakterizacijo in optimizacijo pripravljenih vzorcev. Aerogeli s pektinskim jedrom in obdani s hitozanom imajo največjo površino in največjo adsorpcijsko sposobnost. V drugem delu smo izvedli impregnacijo esomeprazola po dveh različnih metodah in sicer z metodo superkritične impregnacije in z metodo difuzije s sol-gel sintezo. Pri superkritični impregnaciji smo kot topilo uporabili superkritični ogljikov dioksid. Pri difuzijski metodi pa smo vzorčno zdravilo dodali med sol-gel sintezo, pri čemer smo kot topilo uporabili etanol. Na koncu smo izvedli popolno karakterizacijo pripravljene formulacije in opravili študijo sproščanja zdravila. Z obema metodama smo uspešno impregnirali esomeprazol ter dosegli optimalno sproščanje izbranega zdravila.