assessing the bioadhesivity of acconon mc 8-2 ep/nf for gastroretention of floating microsponges of loratadine and achieving controlled drug delivery

the aim of the present work was to assess the feasibility of accononmc8-2ep/nf as a bioadhesive material for developing controlled release gastroretentive microsponges of loratadine. modified emulsion-solvent diffusion method was employed for the preparation of microsponges (f1-f9) based on 32 factorial design. the amount of ethyl cellulose (ec) and polyvinyl alcohol (pva) were selected as independent variables while particle size, entrapment efficiency and %cdr were designated as dependent variables. the formulation (f1) with least particle size of 54 ± 2.37µm, entrapment efficiency of 65.98 ± 2.21 % and cdr of 88.15 ± 1.59% at 8 h that followed zero order release kinetics was selected as optimized formulation. f1 was re-fabricated as bioadhesive microsponges (bf1) using acconon mc 8-2 and assessed. the particle size of bf1increased to 84 ± 2.29 µm whereas the entrapment efficiency lowered to 55.19 ± 1.36% in comparison to f1. however, the cdr8h from bf1 (81.65 ± 3.37%) was comparable to f1. dynamic in vitro bioadhesion test confirmed the bioadhesive property of bf1. ex vivo permeation across gastric mucin depicted 52.87% cdp8h that followed zero order kinetics (r2 = 0.9885). scanning electron microscopy revealed spherical and highly porous surface. the ftir studies revealed no chemical interaction between drug and excipients. hence, the study affirmed the bioadhesive characteristics of acconon mc 8-2 ep/nf for development of controlled release biaodhesive floating microsponges of loratadine.