Effects of pH and ionic strength on catanionic drug-surfactant mixtures used for prolonged release from gels

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of pH and ionic strength on the phase behavior of two different catanionic drug- surfactant mixtures, and to study drug release from gels facilitated by the catanionic aggregates. Simplified phase diagrams were constructed for diphenhydramine or tetracaine mixed with SDS, varying the pH approximately between 6 and 11, and the NaCl concentration from 0.45 to 1.8%. The phases formed were studied visually, rheologically and with cryo-TEM. Some mixtures containing catanionic vesicles and micelles were selected for drug release studies from gels, varying the pH and NaCl concentration here as well. Both catanionic systems investigated proved relatively resilient to changes in the ionic strength. Changes in pH, on the other hand, caused marked effects to the phase behavior in both systems. The influence of pH was particularly strong in the drug-rich part of the tetracaine/SDS system, where increasing the pH causes precipitation. As expected, the drug release in both systems was somewhat affected by changes in both pH and ionic strength, but remained in all cases significantly prolonged as compared to the release of free, non-complexed, drug. These studies show that catanionic mixtures may be used to obtain prolonged drug release from gels, and that the concept also works when the gels are exposed to a pH that is a couple of units above the pKa of the cationic component. Furthermore, the ionic strength has no pronounced effect on the drug release, as long as it is kept within reasonable pharmaceutical levels.