Development and characterization of sumatriptan-loaded soy bean polysaccharide nanofiber using electrospinning technique

The use of electrospinning fibers in rapid-dissolving drug delivery systems accelerates the release of the active substance due to their extensive contact surface and porosity. Sumatriptan succinate (SS), an antimigraine drug has beneficial and proven effects on human health, but it has some shortcomings such as bitter-taste, low oral absorption and low half-life that limit its application in pharmaceutical systems. In this work, the new nanofiber mats were developed to increase oral absorption and improve the efficacy of drug. The mean fiber diameters were 313.29 ± 31 nm, 373.37 ± 29 nm and 453 ± 42 nm for those loaded by 0.15% SS, 0.5% SS and 1% SS, respectively. By adding sumatriptan succinate to the electrospinning solution, viscosity, electrical conductivity and tensile strength in fibers increased, but pH decreased. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD) analyses confirmed the absence of interactions between drug and polymer membrane. A fast release rate was obtained for sumatriptan-loaded soluble soy bean polysaccharide (SSPS) nanofiber mats, where 95% of the sumatriptan released within 20 s. Cytotoxicity evaluation revealed that none of the nanofibers had toxic properties on the fibroblasts cells. Overall, sumatriptan can be loaded well in SSPS nanofibers and released more quickly in oral space, which will be effective in improving the onset of therapeutic effects and reducing migraine headaches.