Biopolymers as a novel vehicle for drugs using microencapsulation techniques

E. VÁSQUEZ, ENRIQUE VEGA, MARTIN MASUELLI

Rosario

Congreso; 4º Reunión Internacional de Ciencias Farmacéuticas; 2016

4º Reunión Internacional de Ciencias Farmacéuticas

Microencapsulation can be defined as the process by which matrix systems are formed and used as carriers for packaging compounds with biological activity (as pharmaceuticals, probiotics, enzymes, proteins, nucleic acids, etc.). Biopolymers have become of great interest since they are more stable and provide greater reproducibility, while promising to biodegrade easily. The discovery of new biopolymers, in addition to novel techniques for their synthesis, purification and chemical modification allow the protection of active pharmaceutical ingredients. This allows the target cell to be reached by an intact drug, in a time-controlled way. The Xanthan gum is a biopolysaccharide produced by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris and secreted to the extracellular space as a secondary metabolite during stationary phase of growth. In the present work we studied the formation of xanthan gum microespheres in a ferric chloride solution that acted as complexing agent. These microespheres were used to encapsulate paracetamol in order to maintain stable the pharmaceutical form and protect the drug from external agents. The study of the release from the espheres was carried out working at room temperature and 37 ºC, in mediums of different pHs (simulated gastric medium: 1.2, simulated intestinal medium: 7.5). The results obtained led to the conclusion that the maximum drug release occurs at 37 ºC and pH 1.2. The percentage of paracetamol released under these circumstances corresponds to 43% of the encapsulated amount, in a 3 hour period, according to preliminary studies in vitro.