Dissolution testing is important in assessing the in vitro drug release performance for oral administration dosage forms. However, currently, a simple and efficient in vitro test to investigate critical factors that may impact the drug release and bioavailability at the development stage of a drug-loaded nanoemulsion (NE) is lacking. Thus, in this study, we developed a new combined biphasic and modified cylinder (BP + MC) method to evaluate the dissolution profile of NEs. Flubendazole (FLZ), a Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS) Class II drug, offers a new prospective for drug repositioning for treating lung cancer and cryptococcal meningitis. We compared the drug release profiles of three different FLZ formulations (micronized as a suspension, loaded in NE, and solubilized in oil) by using three different methods (dialysis bag, modified cylinder method, and a new BP + MC method). The results showed potential higher drug release of FLZ from the suspension compared to FLZ-loaded NE at pH 1.2, and higher drug release from FLZ-loaded NE compared to other forms in octanol phase. These results correlate well with the in vivo test performed in mice carried out in our previous works. Furthermore, the partition mechanism of the drug released from the NE is discussed in-depth in this article, as well as the advantage of drug-loaded NEs over other preparations in creating supersaturable conditions. Based on the results, we provide new insights into how dissolution methods for a poorly water-solubility drug can be designed. Therefore, we present this new combined BP + MC method as a potential new discriminative dissolution test for future studies when developing drug-loaded NE and comparing with other dosage forms.
Keywords: Biphasic; Dissolution; In vivo correlation; Nanoemulsion; Partition mechanism; Supersaturable.
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