Microfluidic spray dried and spray freeze dried uniform microparticles potentially for intranasal drug delivery and controlled release

Abstract

Microparticulate formulations of intranasal drug administration, i.e. nasal powder, have aroused widespread interest in academia and industry. However, low drug bioavailability due to poor hydrophilicity and rapid clearance of nasal mucosa remains an important challenge. Herein, with resveratrol as poorly water-soluble model drug, hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin as complexation agent and excipient, chitosan as mucoadhesive enhancer, a series of uniform microparticles were fabricated using a self-designed microfluidic spray granulation platform. The effects of feed solution composition and process technique on particle size, morphology, density and flowability were investigated. The obtained powder presented the significantly enhanced resveratrol dissolubility over 1800 times pure resveratrol and the excellent antioxidant activity with Net AUC value exceeding 60. Chitosan played an important role in adjusting resveratrol release behavior and improving particle mucoadhesive property. This study shows promise for facile and scalable production of high-quality nasal powder using combined complexation method with spray drying and spray freeze drying technique.