Controlling the size and morphology of griseofulvin nanoparticles using polymeric stabilizers by evaporation-assisted solvent–antisolvent interaction method

Abstract

Griseofulvin (GF) is a potential drug for cancer therapy. However, its application is limited by its poor water solubility. Ultrafine GF nanoparticles were prepared through evaporation-assisted solvent–antisolvent interaction method for improving its solubility. Acetone was used as the solvent and water was used as the antisolvent. It was observed that particle size could be controlled by varying the concentration of GF in acetone. Average particle size was very low, 16 ± 4 and 28 ± 8 nm, when the concentration of GF was 5 and 25 mM, respectively, in acetone. However, the particle size increased drastically to more than 3 µm, when the concentration was increased to 50 mM. Interestingly, the presence of optimized concentration of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) as stabilizers in the antisolvent resulted in significant reduction of particle size. Particle size decreased to less than 40 nm in the presence of the polymeric stabilizers, even when the concentration was 50 mM. Field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy imaging revealed that the polymeric stabilizers encapsulated very small GF particles and thus stabilized them. The solubility of GF-HPMC, GF-PVP, and the bare GF particles that were prepared from 50 mM solution (micro-GF) was nearly 24, 19, and 11 times, respectively, higher than that of raw-GF. In vitro dissolution studies revealed that almost 100 % of the drug was released in 60 min from GF-PVP and GF-HPMC. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy did not detect any strong interaction between GF and the stabilizers. X-ray diffraction showed that the prepared GF nanoparticles and the micro-GF were in polymorphic form I. Differential scanning calorimetric studies showed that the crystallinity of the nanoformulated GF was only slightly lower than that of raw-GF. Thus, particle size reduction and the presence of stabilizers led to significant enhancement in solubility and dissolution rate.