Mathematical modeling of drug release from Eudragit RS-based delivery systems

B. Glaessl, F. Siepmann, I. Tucker, T. Rades, J. Siepmann*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Various types of tartaric acid, metoprolol free base and metoprolol tartrate containing Eudragit RS-based films were prepared and physicochemically characterized. In particular, the water uptake and compound release kinetics were monitored upon exposure to 0.1 M HCl, phosphate buffer pH 7.4 and distilled water. Appropriate analytical solutions of Fick's second law of diffusion, considering the given initial and boundary conditions, were used to elucidate the underlying mass transport mechanisms. Furthermore, the apparent diffusion coefficients of water, tartaric acid, metoprolol free base and metoprolol tartrate in the different Eudragit RS-based networks were determined. Importantly, the diffusivity of metoprolol tartrate and metoprolol free base significantly increased with increasing initial drug content, illustrating the strong plasticizing capacity of these compounds for the polymer. In contrast to Eudragit RL-based films, metoprolol free base precipitation occurred only at higher initial drug loadings, due to the lower water uptake resulting from the lower contents of quaternary ammonium groups. Interestingly, negatively charged tartrate ions diffused out more rapidly from metoprolol tartrate containing films than positively charged metoprolol ions, indicating that the lower molecular weight over-compensates the attractive ionic interactions with the positively charged macromolecules.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology
Volume20
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)127-133
Number of pages7
ISSN1773-2247
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors are grateful for the support of this work by the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Regional Council (Interdisciplinary Research Center on Drug Products, PRIM: “Pôle de recherche interdisciplinaire pour le médicament”).

Keywords

  • Controlled release
  • Diffusion
  • Drug polymer interactions
  • Eudragit RS
  • Mathematical modeling

Cite this