Evaluation of γ-cyclodextrin effect on permeation of lipophilic drugs: application of cellophane/fused octanol membrane

Abstract

According to the Biopharmaceutics Classification System, oral bioavailability of drugs is determined by their aqueous solubility and the ability of the dissolved drug molecules to permeate lipophilic biological membranes. Similarly topical bioavailability of ophthalmic drugs is determined by their solubility in the aqueous tear fluid and their ability to permeate the lipophilic cornea. Enabling pharmaceutical excipients such as cyclodextrins can have profound effect on the drug bioavailability. However, to fully appreciate such enabling excipients, the relationship between their effects and the physicochemical properties of the permeating drug needs to be known. In this study, the permeation enhancing effect of γ-cyclodextrin (γCD) on saturated drug solutions containing hydrocortisone (HC), irbesartan (IBS), or telmisartan (TEL) was evaluated using cellophane and fused cellulose-octanol membranes in a conventional Franz diffusion cell system. The flux (J), the flux ratio (J_R) and the apparent permeability coefficients (P_app) demonstrate that γCD increases drug permeability. However, its efficacy depends on the drug properties. Addition of γCD increased P_app of HC (unionized) and IBS (partially ionized) through the dual membrane but decreased the P_app of TEL (fully ionized) that displays low complexation efficacy. The dual cellophane-octanol membrane system was simple to use and gave reproducible results.

Keywords:

• Franz diffusion cell
• γ-cyclodextrins
• lipophilic drugs
• octanol membrane
• permeation enhancer

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from Icelandic Center of Research (RANNÍS) and University of Iceland.