Electrospun 4th-Generation Solid Dispersions of Poorly Water-Soluble Drug Utilizing Two Different Processes.

Different from traditional solid dispersion (SD) for improving the dissolution rates of poorly water-soluble drugs, the upgraded 4th SD was developed to furnish a drug sustained-release profile. In this work, two different kinds of 4th SDs were fabricated using two electrospinning processes. One is a ternary SD (nanofibers F2) that consisted of ethyl cellulose (EC), polyethylene glycol 1000 (PEG), and tamoxifen citrate (TAM) from a modified coaxial process, and the other is a binary SD (nanofibers F1) which is comprised of EC and TAM from a single-fluid blending process. Scanning electronic microscopic observations demonstrated that F2 (330±50 nm) showed a better quality than F1 (870±230 nm) in terms of size and size distribution although both of them had a smooth surface morphology and a cross section. X-ray diffraction patterns verified that both SDs were amorphous nanocomposites owing to the favorable secondary interactions among these components, as suggested from the results of FTIR.<italic> In vitro</italic> dissolution experiments indicated that F2 could furnish an improved drug sustained-release characteristics compared to F1, exhausting all the contained TAM and having weaker leveling-off late release. The molecular behaviors of drug sustained-release from the binary 4th SD were suggested. The protocols reported here paved an alternative way for developing novel functional nanomaterials for effective delivery of poorly water-soluble drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]