Ibuprofen nanoemulsion: in vitro pharmacokinetic evaluation and its enhancing mechanism / Muhammad Arif Aizat Affendi

The study was done to improve the absorption of poorly soluble drugs by developing nanoemulsion loaded with ibuprofen, via in vitro diffusion chamber method. 0-phase emulsification technique were used for the preparation of ibuprofen-loaded nanoemulsion. Three different type of surfactant was used; sucrose ester laurate, sucrose ester oleate and sucrose ester palmitate in the formulations. Sucrose ester laurate as surfactant will produced ibuprofen-loaded nanoemulsion, while sucrose ester oleate and sucrose ester palmitate will produced ibuprofen-loaded macroemulsion. All three formulations were loaded with ibuprofen as drug model at three different percentages; 1.5% (w/w), 3.0% (w/w) and 6.0% (w/w). The results showed that 3.0% (w/w) ibuprofen-loaded nanoemulsion exhibited better drug absorption compared to macroemulsions and oil solution (control). Nanoemulsion loaded with 1.5%, 3.0% and 6.0% (w/w) ibuprofen, showed Papp values of 6.2, 10.6 and 6.6 times higher, respectively than controls values. Moreover, 3.0% (w/w) ibuprofen-loaded nanoemulsion showed lowest TEER value, indicating that it might enhance the ibuprofen tansport in ileum by opening the tight junction. We can conclude that nanoemulsion formulations gave higher rate of absorption compared to macroemulsion and oil-based formulations.