Fabrication and in vitro characterization of fenofibric acid-loaded hyaluronic acid–polyethylene glycol polymeric composites with enhanced drug solubility and dissolution rate

Abstract

The target of the present work was to formulate and characterize a fenofibric acid-loaded hyaluronic acid–polyethylene glycol (HA-PEG) polymeric composite to improve solubility and dissolution of the drug in the aqueous media. Several fenofibric acid-loaded HA-PEG polymeric composites were fabricated with varying quantities of HA and PEG 6000 using the solvent-evaporation method. The impact of relative quantities of HA and PEG was examined on solubility and dissolution of the drug. The thermal and structural physiognomies were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Spectroscopic study was accomplished by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Shape and surface features of the solid particles were observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All the formulations demonstrated greater solubility and dissolution than did plain fenofibric acid powder. Both the HA and PEG positively affected solubility and dissolution of the drug in the aqueous media. A fenofibric acid-loaded HA-PEG polymeric composite, consisting of fenofibric acid/HA/PEG at the weight ratio of 0.5/6.0/0.75, respectively, provided the highest solubility (0.45 ± 0.05 mg/mL) and dissolution (∼90% in 15 min) in this study. Moreover, the loaded drug was in the amorphous state, and had no covalent linkages with polymeric matrices. Thus, this HA-PEG polymeric composite might be a suitable drug delivery system for oral administration of fenofibric acid.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Dissolution
• fenofibric acid
• hyaluronic acid
• polyethylene glycol
• solubility
• ternary solid dispersion

Acknowledgments

No financial support was acquired from any funding source for this research work. The authors are thankful to the University of Central Punjab and to the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology for providing all the materials and the laboratory facility for this research.