Microemulsions drug-delivery systems

Ghosh, P.K., Majithiya, R.J., Umrethia, M.L. andMurthy, R.S.R. (2006) Design and development of microemulsion drug delivery system of acyclovir for improvement of oral bioavailability. AAPS Pharmscitech, 7, 77. 

Araya H, Tomita M, Hayashi M (2006) The novel formulation design of self-emulsifying drug delivery systems (SEDDS) type O/W microemulsion III The permeation mechanism of a poorly water soluble drug entrapped O/W microemulsion in rat isolated intestinal membrane by the Ussing chamber method. Drug Metab Pharmacokinet 21 45-53. 

In many cases in drug development, the solubility of some leads is extremely low. Fast dissolution rate of many drug delivery systems, for example, particle size reduction, may not be translated into good Gl absorption. The oral absorption of these molecules is usually limited by solubility (VWIImann et al., 2004). In the case of solubility limited absorption, creating supersaturation in the Gl Luids for this type of insoluble drugs is very critical as supersaturation may provide great improvement of oral absorption (Tanno et al., 2004 Shanker, 2005). The techniques to create the so-called supersaturation in the Gl Luids may include microemulsions, emulsions, liposomes, complexations, polymeric micelles, and conventional micelles, which can be found in some chapters in the book. 

Microemulsions, and Lipid-Based Drug Delivery Systems for Drug Solubilization and Delivery—Part I Parenteral Applications... 

The new cyclosporine formulation (Sandimmun Neoral, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, East Hanover, NJ) is a self-microemulsifying drug delivery system, which consists of the drug in a lipophilic solvent (corn oil), hydrophilic cosolvent (propylene glycol) surfactant and an antioxidant [37]. Upon contact with GI fluids, Sandimmun Neoral readily forms a homogenous, monophasic microemulsion, which allows the absorption of the drug molecules. Unlike Sandimmun, the formation of this microemulsion is independent of bile salt activity, and indeed, studies have shown that the absorption of cyclosporine from the new formulation is much less dependent on bile flow [38] and is unaffected by food intake [39],... 

Yandamme, T.F. 2002. Microemulsions as ocular drug delivery systems Recent developments and future challenges. Prog Retin Eye Res 21 15. 

The most recent development (in terms of physicochemical/particle size approaches) in the design of lipid-based delivery systems has been the use of microemulsions, microemulsion preconcentrates, or self-microemulsifying drug delivery systems (SMEDDS), typified by the Sandimmun Neoral formulation. 

Microemulsion system applications span many areas including enhanced oil recovery, soil and aquifer decontamination and remediation, foods, pharmaceuticals (drug delivery systems), cosmetics, and pesticides [2,5,33,37,232,233]. Some of these are listed in Table 3.6. The widespread interest in microemulsions and use in these different industrial applications are based mainly on their high solubilization capac-... 

---