In Vivo Pharmacokinetic Studies of Albendazole Nanoparticulate Oral Formulations for Improved Bioavailability

ABSTRACT

During the last 10 years, the formulation of drugs as nanocrystals has rapidly evolved into a mature drug delivery strategy, with currently five products on the market. The major characteristic of these systems is the rapid dissolution velocity, enabling bioavailability enhancement after oral administration. Albendazole, a lipophilic anthelmintic drug, belongs to biopharmaceutical classification system type II: low aqueous solubility and bioavailability and high permeability. This study describes the bioefficacy of an albendazole nanosuspension tablet achieved by high-pressure homogenization. The aim was to obtain a stable nanosuspension with an increased drug saturation solubility and dissolution velocity. Pharmacokinetics of optimized albendazole nanosuspensions after oral administration to rats was studied. Bioavailability of albendazole nanosuspensions were 2–3-fold compared with that of market product. These results indicate the potential of nanosuspension in improvement of oral bioavailability of lipophilic drugs such as albendazole.

KEYWORDS:

• albendazole
• bioavailability
• nanosuspensions
• pharmacokinetics

acknowledgements

Facilities were obtained from Torrent Research Center, Ahmedabad, High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, Bhopal, and Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore.