Mucoadhesive microspheres for nasal administration of cyclodextrins

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the in vitro capacity of cyclodextrins to interfere on the β-amyloid fibril formation; then, mucoadhesive microspheres containing cyclodextrins were prepared and characterised as nasal delivery system for brain targeting. Eight batches of microspheres containing chitosan or alginate loaded with β-cyclodextrin or hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin in two different cyclodextrin to polymer ratios were produced by spray drying. The results show that none of the tested CDs has direct cellular toxicity and they protect the cell viability from β-peptide. The microspheres prepared are characterised by small particle sizes, ability to absorb water and to delay the in vitro dissolution rate of the CDs; good ex vivo mucoadhesive properties of the formulations are assessed. The microsphere properties are influenced by the kind of polymer, of cyclodextrin and by cyclodextrin to polymer ratio used. In particular, the alginate formulation containing the higher cyclodextrin content shows the best performance.

Keywords::

• Cyclodextrin
• mucoadhesive microspheres
• nasal drug delivery
• nose-to-brain transport
• brain targeting

Acknowledgements

This work has been carried out with a grant of Ministero della Salute, Italy (Programma Speciale Alzheimer), of MIUR PRIN05 and of Fondazione Banco di Sardegna.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest.