Rheological Properties Study of Oral Hydrogels Containing Phenobarbital for a Potiential Pediatric Use

Abstract

This present study is a continuation of our work entitled “pH-thermosensitive oral chitosan-based hydrogels containing phenobarbital for a potential pediatric use”. The results of that previous study have shown their potential use in newborns in particular premature newborns while the oral form containing phenobarbital is a tablet and is unsuitable for newborns. Thus, in order to have a suitable device for the administration of hydrogels oral formulations to newborns, we have done rheology studies to complement our work. For this we have studied the variation of the viscosity of hydrogels containing phenobarbital as a function of shear rate and time. Phenobarbital is an active drug used in neonatal treatment of epilepsy. The viscosity measurements of hydrogels are carried out using a Fungilab V'PAD Rotational Viscometer (100–240V/50–60Hz) Type 'R series then ANOVA test was used to analysis the results. The results showed that the hydrogels had a non-Newtonian behavior with shear-thinning and thixotropic type which depends on the chitosan concentration, the storage temperature hydrogels, the presence of Eudragit E100 and the final solution’s pH. Rheological properties study have shown that a syringe-type device would be suitable for oral administration of hydrogels formulations to neonates.