Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7460-8754

Date Available

6-13-2019

Year of Publication

2019

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

College

Pharmacy

Department/School/Program

Pharmaceutical Sciences

First Advisor

Dr. Eric J. Munson

Second Advisor

Dr. Bradley Anderson

Abstract

Nanoparticulate drug delivery systems (NDDS) such as nanocrystals, nanosuspensions, solid-lipid nanoparticles often formulated for the bioavailability enhancement of poorly soluble drug candidates are stabilized by a mixture of excipients including surfactants and polymers. Most literature studies have focused on the interaction of excipients with the NDDS surfaces while ignoring the interaction of excipients in solution and the extent to which the solution-state interactions influence the affinity and capacity of adsorption. Mechanisms by which excipients stabilize NDDS and how this information can be utilized by formulators a priori to make a rational selection of excipients is not known.

The goals of this dissertation work were (a) to determine the energetics of interactions between HPMC and model surfactants and the extent to which these solution-state interactions modulate the adsorption of these excipients onto solid surfaces, (b) to determine and characterize the structures of various aggregate species formed by the interaction between hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and model surfactants (nonionic and ionic) in solution-state, and (c) to extend these quantitative relationships to interpret probable mechanisms of mixed adsorption of excipients onto the model NDDS surface.

A unique approach utilizing fluorescence, solution calorimetry and adsorption isotherms was applied to tease apart the effect of solution state interactions of polymer and surfactant on the extent of simultaneous adsorption of the two excipients on a model surface. The onset of aggregation and changes in aggregate structures were quantified by a fluorescence probe approach with successive addition of surfactant. In the presence of HPMC, the structures of the aggregates formed were much smaller with an aggregation number (Nagg) of 34 as compared to micelles (Nagg ~ 68) formed in the absence of HPMC. The strength of polymer-surfactant interactions was determined to be a function of ionic strength and hydrophobicity of surfactant. The nature of these structures was characterized using their solubilization power for a hydrophobic probe molecule. This was determined to be approximately 35% higher in the polymer-surfactant aggregates as compared to micelles alone and was attributed to a significant increase in the number of aggregates formed and the increased hydrophobic microenvironment within these aggregates at a given concentration of surfactant.

The energetics of the adsorption of SDS, HPMC, and SDS-HPMC aggregate onto nanosuspensions of silica, which is the model solid surface were quantified. A strong adsorption enthalpy of 1.25 kJ/mol was determined for SDS adsorption onto silica in the presence of HPMC as compared to the negligible adsorption enthalpy of 0.1 kJ/mol for SDS alone on the silica surface. The solution depletion and HPMC/ELSD methods showed a marked increase in the adsorption of SDS onto silica in the presence of HPMC. However, at high SDS concentrations, a significant decrease in the adsorbed amount of HPMC onto silica was determined. This was further corroborated by the adsorption enthalpy that showed that the silica-HPMC-SDS aggregation process became less endothermic upon addition of SDS. This suggested that the decrease in adsorption of HPMC onto silica at high SDS concentrations was due to competitive adsorption of SDS-HPMC aggregates wherein SDS is displaced/desorbed from silica in the presence of HPMC. At low SDS concentrations, an increase in adsorption of SDS was due to cooperative adsorption wherein SDS is preferentially adsorbed onto silica in the presence of HPMC. This adsorption behavior confirmed the hypothesis that the solution-state interactions between pharmaceutical excipients such as polymers and surfactants would significantly impact the affinity and capacity of adsorption of these excipients on NDDS surfaces.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2019.294

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