investigation of factors affecting aerodynamic performance of nebulized nanoemulsion.

this work aimed to prepare a nanoemulsion preparation containing budesonide and assess its aerodynamic behavior in comparison with suspension of budesonide. in-vitro aerodynamic performance of the corresponding micellar solution (ie. nanoemulsion preparation without oil) was investigated too. nanoemulsions of almond oil containing budesonide, as a hydrophobic model drug molecule, were prepared and optimized. then, the effect of variation of surfactant/co-surfactant concentration on the aerodynamic properties of the nebulized aerosol was studied. the results indicated that the most physically stable formulation makes the smallest aerodynamic size. the concentration of co-surfactant was also shown to be critical in determination of aerodynamic size. furthermore, the optimized sample, with 3% w/w almond oil, 20% w/w tween 80+span 80 and 2% w/w ethanol showed a smaller mmad in comparison with the commercially available suspension and the micellar solution.