Effect of polymer molecular weight on the production of drug nanoparticles

S Sepassi, D J Goodwin, A F Drake, S Holland, G Leonard, L Martini, M J Lawrence

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

52 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Stable, polymer-coated nanoparticles of two hydrophobic drugs, namely nabumetone and halofantrine, have been prepared by a wet-bead milling process performed in the presence of a stabilizing homopolymer, either hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) or polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), of differing molecular weights and concentrations. Although nabumetone nanoparticles could only be produced when HPMC was used as stabilizing polymer, halofantrine nanoparticles could be prepared using either HPMC or PVP. Stable nanoparticles of nabumetone could be produced using a HPMC solution of viscosity average molecular weight, M-v, of 5 kg/mol over an approximate four fold polymer concentration range (0.63-2.5%w/w) when a drug loading of 20%w/w was used. Increasing the molecular weight of HPMC up to a limiting M-v of 89 kg/mol did not result in the formation of nanoparticles at any of the polymer concentrations examined. The amount of polymer absorbed onto the nanoparticles was determined by measuring the depletion of polymer from solution based on either an ultra-violet (PVP) or optical rotatory dispersion (HPMC) assay. The slightly lower concentration of HMPC found to be present on the surface of the halofantrine nanoparticles compared with the nabumetone nanoparticles suggested a differing affinity of the polymer for the surface of the two drugs. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2655 - 2666
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Volume96
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2007

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