African Breadfruit Seed Oil as Lipid Phase of Self-Emulsifying Drug Delivery System for Improved Gastrointestinal Fluid Solubility of Ibuprofen: Design and Evaluation
Romanus C. Omeh *
Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu State, Nigeria.
Audu M. Momoh
Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria.
Felix K. Asogwa
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu State, Nigeria.
Celestine O. Ugwu
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu State, Nigeria.
Gerald W. Ugodi
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu State, Nigeria.
Treasure N. Ujam
Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu State, Nigeria.
Kennedy E. Oluigbo
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Biopharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu State, Nigeria.
Njideka Ani
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu State, Nigeria.
Ndidiamaka H. Okorie
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu State, Nigeria.
Paul E. Ugwu
Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu State, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Introduction: Rain forest vegetations all over the world produce large quantity of economically important seed oils which, in most developing countries are utilized only as food condiments but hardly employed in pharmaceutical formulations.
Objectives: The purpose of this work was to formulate ibuprofen-loaded self-emulsifying drug delivery system for the enhancement of the gastrointestinal fluid solubility of this poorly water soluble drug.
Methods: The breadfruit seed oil was extracted by the soxhlet extraction technique and characterized for various physicochemical properties including acid, iodine, peroxide, saponification values and organoleptic properties. The super saturation solubility process, water titration studies and pseudo ternary phase diagrams were used to select and quantify the components of the emulsion systems. The liquid self-emulsifying drug delivery systems were converted to solid forms by adsorption onto a blend of miceocrystalline cellulose and Aerosil-200 powders. The resulting wet mass was dried and processed for encapsulation.
Results: The percentage yield of the oil from the extraction process was 20.68 % while the acid, iodine, and saponification values were, 4.12 ± 1.24, 21.91 ± 0.88, and 302.45 ± 1.22 respectively. The ibuprofen exhibited higher solubility in the hydrolysed oil than in the crude form. Fourier transform infrared analysis did not reveal existence of component incompatibility. The optimized liquid and solid emulsions exhibited standard characteristics that were compatible to previous literature reports. The formulations also exhibited superior drug release properties over two control samples.
Conclusion: It was concluded that Breadfruit seed oil has the potential to function as the lipid component of ibuprofen-loaded self-emulsifying drug delivery system formulated to enhance the aqueous solubility of the drug.
Keywords: Breadfruit seed oil, self-emulsifying drug delivery systems, ibuprofen, lipid phase, pseudo ternary phase, surfactant mix