title: Role of mucoadhesive polymers in enhancing delivery of nimodipine microemulsion to brain via intranasal route.
abstract: Intranasal drug administration is receiving increased attention as a delivery method for bypassing the blood-brain barrier and rapidly targeting therapeutics to the CNS. However, rapid mucociliary clearance in the nasal cavity is a major hurdle. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of mucoadhesive polymers in enhancing the delivery of nimodipine microemulsion to the brain via the intranasal route. The optimized mucoadhesive microemulsion was characterized, and the in vitro drug release and in vivo nasal absorption of drug from the new formulation were evaluated in rats. The optimized formulation consisted of Capmul MCM as oil, Labrasol as surfactant, and Transcutol P as co-surfactant, with a particle size of 250 nm and zeta potential value of -15 mV. In vitro and ex vivo permeation studies showed an initial burst of drug release at 30 min and sustained release up to 6 h, attributable to the presence of free drug entrapped in the mucoadhesive layer. In vivo pharmacokinetic studies in rats showed that the use of the mucoadhesive microemulsion enhanced brain and plasma concentrations of nimodipine. These results suggest that incorporation of a mucoadhesive agent in a microemulsion intranasal delivery system can increase the retention time of the formulation and enhance brain delivery of drugs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research-Ahmedabad, C/O - B. V. Patel Pharmaceutical Education and Research Development (PERD) Centre, Ahmedabad 380054, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Rudree
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pathak
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, B. V. Patel Pharmaceutical Education and Research Development (PERD) Centre, Ahmedabad 380054, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Ranjeet Prasad
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Dash
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research-Ahmedabad, C/O - B. V. Patel Pharmaceutical Education and Research Development (PERD) Centre, Ahmedabad 380054, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Manju
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Misra
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, B. V. Patel Pharmaceutical Education and Research Development (PERD) Centre, Ahmedabad 380054, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Manish
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nivsarkar
keywords: Blood–brain barrier; Entrapment; Nasal mucosa; Permeation; Pharmacokinetics