Mucoadhesive polymeric films comprising polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinylpyrrolidone, and poloxamer 407 for pharmaceutical applications

Abstract

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) have been extensively studied for their use in film formation. Poloxamer 407 (P407) is a block copolymer that has thermo-responsive and surfactant properties when used in pharmaceutical systems. These polymers are already used in liquid or semi-solid systems for ocular and parenteral drug delivery. However, the effect of P407 presence in solid pharmaceutical films composed of different PVA:PVP ratios have not been investigated yet. Therefore, this work investigated the influence of P407 added to the binary polymer mixture of PVA and PVP for the development of solid films aiming for pharmaceutical applications. The rheological properties of dispersions were investigated, and films were prepared by solvent casting method using different P407:PVA:PVP ratios according to a factorial design 2³ (plus center point). The mechanical and in vitro mucoadhesive properties of films, as well as the disintegration time were investigated. Systems presented high mechanical resistance, mucoadhesion, and disintegration timeless than 180 s. It was found that higher concentrations of PVA increase mechanical properties and decrease disintegration time, and higher proportions of PVP and P407 increased mucoadhesion. The films could be classified as fast disintegrating films and represent a promising alternative for modifying drug delivery and pharmaceutical applications.

Keywords:

• Thin films;
• fast-dissolving;
• mechanical properties;
• mucoadhesive;
• polymeric systems

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The present work was financially supported by the Brazilian funding agencies Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES; Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel; Finance Code 001), Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (CNPq; National Research Council; process no. 307442/2017-9), Fundação Araucária de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico do Paraná (Araucaria Foundation Agreement 027/2017), and Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP; Financier of Studies and Projects).