Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Comparison of solvent evaporation and ultrasonic-assisted production methods in the development of nimesulide nanosponges and their characterization

Pervaiz Akhtar Shah¹ , Haroon Khalid Syed², Abdul Rehman Sohail¹, Areeba Pervaiz¹, Muhammad Shahid Iqbal³, Kai Bin Liew⁴, Salah-Ud-Din Khan⁵, Haider Abbas Zaidi¹

¹Department of Pharmaceutics, University College of Pharmacy, University of The Punjab, 54590 Lahore, Pakistan; ²Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Government College University, 38000 Faisalabad, Pakistan; ³Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; ⁴Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Industry, University of Cyberhjaya, Persiaran Bestari, 63000 Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia; ⁵Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

For correspondence:- Pervaiz Shah Email: pashah6512@yahoo.com Tel:+23218461280

Accepted: 12 May 2022 Published: 30 June 2022

Citation: Shah PA, Syed HK, Sohail AR, Pervaiz A, Iqbal MS, Liew KB, et al. Comparison of solvent evaporation and ultrasonic-assisted production methods in the development of nimesulide nanosponges and their characterization. Trop J Pharm Res 2022; 21(6):1139-1145 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v21i6.1

© 2022 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To compare solvent evaporation and ultrasonic assisted synthesis in preparation of nimesulide nanosponges using polyvinyl-alcohol and Eudragit L100 as a polymer/copolymer and dichloromethane as a cross linker.

Methods: Twelve formulations of nimesulide were prepared, six with each method by varying the ratios of both polymer and co-polymer. The resulting nanosponges were evaluated characterized by pre-formulation studies, production yield (%), differential scanning calorimeter, x-ray diffraction, Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, entrapment efficiency (%), actual drug content (%) and in-vitro dissolution studies.

Results: The results revealed that the formulation with high amounts of co-polymer in both methods showed crystalline structures with enhanced dissolution rates in basic media. Drug entrapment was higher for products prepared by solvent evaporation method (74 %) than that prepared by ultrasonic assisted method (61 %). This correlates with the enhanced dissolution rates for products by solvent evaporation method and increased solubility due to drug-polymer complex formation.

Conclusion: Formulations made by solvent evaporation method demonstrate higher production yield and drug entrapment. However, both methods exhibit enhanced dissolution rates in basic medium generally as well as other characteristics that are comparable to nanosponges reported in the literature with regard to their comb like structure.

Keywords: Nanosponges, Nimesulide, Emulsion solvent diffusion, Ultrasonic-assisted synthesis, Sustained release