The in vitro release features of 5-Fluorouracil from tablets with chitosan, soy protein extract and chitosan-soyprotein extract blend as carriers and their thermal degradation characteristics

Abstract

Natural polymers are finding widespread applications in drug delivery, scaffold fabrication, bio plastic production, food packaging, wound dressing etc. due to their availability, biodegradability, biocompatibility, renewable nature, ease of modification to achieve the desirable properties etc. In the present study, the commercially available soy protein extract (SPE), chitosan(CSN) and their physical blend(CSN-SPE) have been chosen as drug carrier matrices to campare their in vitro drug release features in simulated intestinal fluid for controlled release applications taking 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) as a typical drug. The percentages of 5-FU released from the SPE, CSN and CSN-SPE tablets as a function of time were quantified by reverse phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography using KH2PO4 solution (pH 6.8) as the mobile phase and C-18 column as the stationery phase. The observed drug release features were found to be different for these polymer carriers. The percentages of drug released during the initial periods upto 60 min were less in the CSN-SPE tablet than those observed for CSN and SPE tablets. This implied that the drug release rate can be modified by the proper choice of natural polymers in the blends as carriers. The thermal degradation characteristics of CSN, SPE and CSN-SPE blend and their 5-FU tablets were also analysed by simultaneous Thermogravimetry (TG) and Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA). Comparative analysis of the TG and DTA traces of these polymers and their 5-FU tablets implied that there may be a drug-matrix interaction. This along with different degrees of swellability and degradability of these polymers might account for the differences in the drug release features. The structures of CSN, SPE and CSN-SPE blend were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy.