Molecules, Vol. 25, Pages 1140: Zinc and Calcium Cations Combination in the Production of Floating Alginate Beads as Prednisolone Delivery Systems

Molecules, Vol. 25, Pages 1140: Zinc and Calcium Cations Combination in the Production of Floating Alginate Beads as Prednisolone Delivery Systems Molecules doi: 10.3390/molecules25051140 Authors: Paola Russo Silvana Morello Aldo Pinto Pasquale Del Gaudio Giulia Auriemma Rita P. Aquino The aim of this research was to verify the application of alginate in combination with Ca2+ and Zn2+ ions to produce a floating and prolonged release system for the oral administration of prednisolone. Hollow and floating gel-beads were designed using prilling/ionotropic gelation as the microencapsulation technique, zinc acetate in the gelling solution as the alginate external crosslinker, and calcium carbonate in the feed as the internal crosslinking agent able to generate gas when in contact with the acidic zinc acetate solution. To achieve this goal, drug/alginate solutions were opportunely combined with different amounts of calcium carbonate. The effect of the addition of calcium carbonate into the feed solution on buoyancy, encapsulation efficiency, morphology, size distribution, as well as in vitro drug release profile of the alginate particles was studied. Moreover, the ability of the floating beads to modulate in vivo the anti-inflammatory response was assayed using the carrageenan-induced acute oedema in rat paw. The proposed strategy allowed obtaining alginate beads with extremely high encapsulation efficiency values (up to 94%) and a very porous inner matrix conferr...
Source: Molecules - Category: Chemistry Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research