Fabrication of non-dissolving analgesic suppositories using 3D printed moulds.
Conventional suppositories sometimes fail in exerting their therapeutic activity as the base materials melt inside body cavities. Also they are not suitable to provide long term treatment. Biomedical grade silicone elastomers may be used to fabricate non-dissolvable suppositories to overcome these disadvantages. We kneaded 4 analgesics into the 2 kinds of silicone polymers at 1%, 5% and 10% drug loading, respectively, to test their mechanical properties and drug release profiles. The optimized drug-polymer combinations were used to fabricate suppositories, and three dimensional printing (3DP) was used to create the suppository moulds. Subsequently, the drug release profiles and biocompatibility of the suppositories were studied. It was found that, the mechanical properties of the drug laden silicone elastomers and the rate of drug release from the elastomers can be tuned by varying drug-polymer combinations. The silicone elastomers containing 1% (w/w) and 5% (w/w) diclofenac sodium were the optimal formulations with prolonged drug release and biocompatibility at cellular level. These properties, together with complex geometries offered by 3DP technique, potentially made the non-dissolving suppositories promising therapeutic agents for personalized medicine.
Department of Pharmacy, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China; Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117543, Republic of Singapore.
Yuanyuan
Y
Sun
Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117543, Republic of Singapore.
Xucong
X
Ruan
Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117543, Republic of Singapore.
Hairui
H
Li
Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117543, Republic of Singapore.
Himanshu
H
Kathuria
Department of Pharmacy, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China. Electronic address: tjyxbdg@163.com.
Guang
G
Du
Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117543, Republic of Singapore. Electronic address: lkang@nus.edu.sg.
Lifeng
L
Kang
D000700:Analgesics / Q000737:chemistry; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000737:chemistry; D002460:Cell Line; D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations / Q000737:chemistry; D004008:Diclofenac / Q000737:chemistry; D065546:Drug Liberation; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D007052:Ibuprofen / Q000737:chemistry; D007660:Ketoprofen / Q000737:chemistry; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000737:chemistry; D051379:Mice; D066330:Printing, Three-Dimensional; D012826:Silicone Elastomers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012995:Solubility; D013488:Suppositories / Q000737:chemistry*; D013718:Tensile Strength
D000700:Analgesics; D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D012826:Silicone Elastomers; D013488:Suppositories; D004008:Diclofenac; D007660:Ketoprofen; D008012:Lidocaine; D007052:Ibuprofen
Analgesic; Moulding; Non-dissolving suppository; Silicone elastomer; Sustained release; Three dimensional printing