Nanotechnological Strategies to Improve Water Solubility of Commercially Available Drugs

Title:Nanotechnological Strategies to Improve Water Solubility of Commercially Available Drugs

Volume: 7 Issue: 2

Author(s): Desiree Nedra Karunaratne*, Isuru R. Ariyarathna, Dhanushi Welideniya, Asitha Siriwardhana, Dinara Gunasekera and Veranja Karunaratne

Affiliation:

• Department of Chemistry, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya,Sri Lanka

Keywords: Poorly water soluble, bioavailability, nanocrystals, solid suspensions, self-emulsifying drugs, inorganic carriers, soluble complexes.

Abstract: Background: In the current pharmaceutical industry, overcoming drug insolubility is a daunting formulation challenge. The most active drugs (with receptor affinity and specificity and low toxicity) are not necessarily the most druggable, lacking high solubility, stability, permeability or absorption. Since insoluble drug particles show poor bioavailability, one of the solutions to this problem is to aid dissolution rate (kinetic) and solubility (thermodynamic) by nanosizing the drug. Thus, during the past few decades, several strategies based on nanotechnology have been adopted to overcome these problems, which increase production costs and require administration of large doses resulting in higher cost/dose ratios. This review discusses techniques to improve bioavailability and solubility through nanosuspensions, nanoparticles (NPs) as well as using various nanocarriers.

Methods: Bibliographic databases were screened for peer-reviewed research literature of recent origin. The papers were selected based on the relevance to nanotechnological methods for improving drug solubility.

Results: Synthesis of metal-based drug encapsulant or a drug conveyor constituting a metallo- drug can affect the drug release potential and the rate of drug release. Carrier-free nanocrystal colloidal delivery systems are found to efficiently solubilize drugs. Furthermore, solid dispersions which are comprised of two components where a drug crystal (diameter D 50% < 20 μm) along with a carrier/disintegrant have been successfully employed. In the area of self-emulsifying hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs, micelles, liposomes, selfdispersing tablets and emulsions as well as solid lipid NPs are good candidates for efficiently transporting drugs. In addition, drug complexes with cyclodextrins, calixarenes, cucurbiturils and dendrimers have also led to better solubility and bioavailability.

Conclusion: These approaches present significant improvements to the solubility and bioavailability of existing drugs and future discoveries.

Cite this article as:

Karunaratne Nedra Desiree*, Ariyarathna R. Isuru, Welideniya Dhanushi, Siriwardhana Asitha, Gunasekera Dinara and Karunaratne Veranja, Nanotechnological Strategies to Improve Water Solubility of Commercially Available Drugs, Current Nanomedicine 2017; 7 (2) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/2468187307666161227171349

DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/2468187307666161227171349	Print ISSN 2468-1873
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher	Online ISSN 2468-1881