Formulation for the treatment of eczema

• Main Author: Neo, Rui Qi
• Other Authors: Subramanian Venkatraman
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Materials
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/71054
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Eczema, a skin chronic disorder, is a prevalent inflammatory skin disease. Current treatment methods include the use of systematic immunosuppressant, Cyclosporine and Azathioprine. In recent studies, Methotrexate (MTX) has shown to be a potential treatment of eczema. Indeed, there have been many studies done with regards to the encapsulation techniques of various drugs. Emulsion type delivery system is one such method that is widely utilised in food and pharmaceutical industries. Poly (lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) is a polymeric fabrication that has been extensively used in drug delivery and tissue engineering as a controlled drug delivery carrier for small molecule drugs, proteins and macromolecules. However, different PLGA properties (concentration, molecular weight) can affect the polymer’s ability to perform controlled drug delivery. The drug, along with its encapsulation technique, would also influence the release profile of the delivery system. This project aims to examine the various micro particle fabrication parameters such as PLGA concentration, molecular weight and encapsulation technique and its effects on the particle morphology, particle size distribution and release profile of the drug delivery system. PLGA 50:50, IV 0.4AdL/g and 0.2AdL/g were selected as the particles matrix to be tested. MTX, is used as the model drug incorporated into the particles via Oil in Water (O/W) and Water in oil in water (W1/O/W2) emulsion techniques. Drug release profiles were analysed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and the surface morphologies were analysed using a Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results showed that particles made from 0.4AdL/g inherent viscosity were more spherical and consistent in comparison to those of 0.2Adl/g which were prone to collapse. Hence, 0.4AdL/g PLGA was used for further investigation with MTX. In addition, the results showed that double emulsion encapsulation technique (W1/O/W2) formed bigger and more porous particles compared to single emulsion encapsulation technique (O/W). Also, increasing the polymer concentration led to the formation of larger particles. The addition of 2% of MTX was insignificant in its effect on the particle’s morphology and size distribution. Particles formed from W1/O/W2 showed burst release while O/W had a more sustained release with suppressant burst release. Furthermore, particles formed from O/W were able to achieve higher estimated encapsulated efficiency. All in all, O/W showed promising results and was selected for optimisation for sustained delivery formulation of MTX.