Drug Designing: Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

Enhancement of Aqueous Solubility of Meloxicam using Solid Dispersions Based on Ziziphus spina-christi Gums

Eman Abdallah Ismail, Eltayeb Suleiman Elamin, Elhadi M. Mohamed Ahmed and Mohammed Abdelrahman*

Aqueous solubility and gastrointestinal permeability are the key determinant of drug bioavailability. The aim of this study was to improve solubility and dissolution of Meloxicam (MLX) by solid dispersion using Ziziphus spina-christi Gums (ZSCG) as drug carrier. A 3² full factorial design was used to study the effect of selected independent variables (drug-carrier ratio and kneading time) on the quality of prepared solid dispersions and to identify the optimized formula. Compatibility between MLX and carrier was proved by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIS) and the optimized formula was compressed into tablets. Results revealed that all prepared solid dispersions showed an increase in solubility over pure MLX with 10 folds increase in solubility obtained in F7. Both formulation factors exerted a significant effect (p value less than 0.05) on solubility and practical percentage yield. Formulated tablets fulfilled all compendial specifications for quality control. Dissolution profile of formulated tablets was better than a commercial brand of MLX tablets in terms of mean dissolution time which was found to be 8.35 minutes and dissolution efficiency in 30 minutes (43.56%) for the formulated tablets. Analysis of the dissolution data indicated the best fitting with Weibull and first-order with R² of 0.9850 and 0.9813 respectively, proving that they were immediate release tablets. In conclusion, solubility and dissolution rate of MLX was enhanced by preparing its solid dispersion using ZSCG. These results are promising for more solubility enhancement upon further characterization and modification of the extracted gums.

Published Date: 2021-08-04; Received Date: 2021-07-14