Čes. slov. farm. 2009, 58(1):21-27

Chitosan pellets produced by extrusion-spheronisation

L. Janovská^*, G. Škrabáková, D. Vetchý, M. Rabišková

Veterinární a farmaceutická univerzita Brno, Farmaceutická fakulta, Ústav technologie léků

Chitosan, an intensively studied semisynthetic polymer, has many possible uses due to its special parameters. Chitosan is also presently useful as an excipient in pharmaceutical industry due to its binding, mucoadhesive, viscosity-increasing and film-coating properties which depend on its concentration. Pellets, spherical multiple dosage forms, make possible to solve a lot of problems with oral administration of drugs thanks to its unique properties. In our experiment, matrix pellets containing theophyllin were made by extrusion/spheronisation method. Microcrystalline cellulose and chitosan with 91% degree of deacetylation in concentrations of 25, 35, 45, 55, 65 and 70% were used as matrix-forming excipients. The influence of chitosan concentration on liberation of drug was observed in media with different pH values. The most prolonged theophyllin release (3 hours) was achieved in phosphate buffer of pH 6.8 and chitosan concentration of 25-35%.

Keywords: chitosan; pellets; sustained release; extrusion, spheronisation

Grants and funding:

Tato práce byla realizovaná za finanční podpory grantu IGA VFU Brno 74/2007/FaF.

Received: January 8, 2009; Accepted: January 20, 2009; Published: January 1, 2009  Show citation