Santiago-Vázquez, Mariel M.

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BCS class II drug dispersions in hydroxypropyl methylcellulose solutions: The effect of polymer molecular weight and drug loading on the steady-state rheology of HPMC solutions
(2015) Santiago-Vázquez, Mariel M.; Acevedo-Rullán, Aldo; College of Engineering; Méndez, Rafael; Almodóvar, Jorge L.; Department of Chemical Engineering; Zapata, Sandra
Physical biopolymer gels are ideal candidates for the drug delivery of solid pharmaceutical drugs. Nevertheless, inclusion of particles may affect the rheology and gelation of these systems. In this work, we evaluate the effects of particle loading on the steady-state viscosity of a model biopolymer-particle system. The studied system consists of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) of two different grades, E4M and E15LV, and two BCS Class II drugs, griseofulvin and naproxen. The effect of particle size was studied using various particle size ranges of naproxen (d < 45 µm, 45-75 µm, 75-125 µm, and > 125 µm). For HPMC E15LV a Newtonian behavior was observed, while HPMC E4M behaved as a Bingham pseudoplastic. Overall, the effect of particle inclusion into the biopolymer led to a decrease in both viscosity and yield stress for both HPMC viscosity grades. The decrease in viscosity was attributed to the adsorption of polymer to the particle surface and the decrease in yield stress was attributed to a decrease in polymer-polymer interaction.