Influence of lipid composition on the oral bioavailability of cinnarizine sub-microemulsions : Oral bioavailability of cinnarizine sub-microemulsions

Curcumin and catechin are naturally occurring phytochemicals with extreme sensitivity to oxidation and low bioavailability. We fabricated a water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) double emulsion encapsulating hydrophilic catechin and hydrophobic curcumin simultaneously. The co-loaded emulsion was fabricated using a two-step emulsification method, and its physicochemical properties were characterised. Volume-weighted mean size (d43) of emulsion droplets was ≈3.88 μm for blank emulsions, whereas it decreased to ≈2.8-3.0 μm for curcumin and/or catechin-loaded emulsions, which was attributed to their capacity to act as emulsifiers. High entrapment efficiency was observed for curcumin and/or catechin-loaded emulsions (88-97%). Encapsulation of catechin and curcumin within an emulsion increased their stability significantly in simulated gastrointestinal fluid, which resulted in a four-fold augmentation in their bioaccessibility compared to that of freely suspended curcumin and catechin solutions. Co-loading of curcumin and catechin did not have adverse effects on either compound's stability or bioaccessibility.

Precipitation of cinnarizine during in vitro lipolysis of a self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) was characterized to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms behind the precipitation. During in vitro lipolysis of the SMEDDS with or without cinnarizine, samples were taken at several timepoints and ultracentrifuged. Cinnarizine content in the pellet increased from 4% to 59% during lipolysis. The precipitation of cinnarizine during in vitro lipolysis correlated well with the degree of lipid digestion, determined by sodium hydroxide addition. The pellet from the endpoint of lipolysis was isolated and subjected to dissolution in biorelevant media. Dissolution rate of cinnarizine from pellets containing precipitated cinnarizine was initially 10-fold higher than dissolution from blank pellet spiked with crystalline cinnarizine, reaching more than 50% drug dissolved in the first minute. Pellets were further characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and polarized light microscopy (PLM). Both methods indicated the presence of liquid crystalline phases of calcium fatty acid soaps, but no presence of crystalline cinnarizine in the pellet. Overall, dissolution studies along with XRPD and PLM analysis indicate that cinnarizine precipitating during in vitro lipolysis of this SMEDDS is not crystalline, suggesting an either amorphous form or a molecular dispersion.

The purpose of this study was to characterize the solubilization and precipitation characteristics of a range of poorly water-soluble drugs during digestion of either long-chain or medium-chain triglyceride (TG) lipid formulations. TG solution formulations of five selected drugs (griseofulvin, diazepam, danazol, cinnarizine, and halofantrine) were digested in ritro and drug distribution/solubilization behavior in the resulting digests assessed. For the less lipophilic drugs, the mass of drug dissolved in either medium or long-chain TG was low and the drugs partitioned rapidly into the aqueous digestion phase. For the higher log P drugs, drug transfer to the aqueous phase was limited by accumulation in undigested long-chain TG. In contrast, medium-chain TG was digested completely producing a dispersed aqueous phase that was capable, at least in the case of the high log P drugs, of supporting supersaturated drug concentrations. The solubilization behavior of lipophilic drugs on digestion of simple TG lipid formulations is a function of the lipophilicity of the drug (which dictates the drug dose and the partitioning behavior), the nature of the colloidal phases produced on digestion of the different formulation lipids, and the kinetics of drug transfer between the digesting formulation and the colloidal phases produced.