Fabrication, characterization and evaluation of bacterial cellulose-based capsule shells for oral drug delivery

: Ullah H, Badshah M, Makila E, Salonen J, Shahbazi MA, Santos HA, Khan T

Publisher: SPRINGER

: 2017

: Cellulose

: CELLULOSE

: 24

: 3

: 1445

: 1454

: 10

: 0969-0239

: 1572-882X

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-017-1202-4

Bacterial cellulose (BC) was investigated for the first time for the preparation of capsule shells for immediate and sustained release of drugs. The prepared capsule shells were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The BC capsule shells were studied for drug release using an USP type-I dissolution apparatus. Irrespective of the drying method and the thickness of the BC sheet, the capsule shells displayed an immediate drug release profile. Moreover, the addition of release-retardant cellulosic polymers sustained the drug release having first-order kinetics for hydroxypropylmethylcellulose and carboxymethyl cellulose sodium with R (2) values of 0.9995 and 0.9954, respectively. Furthermore, these capsules shells remained buoyant in 0.1 N HCl (pH 1.2) solution up to 12 h. This study showed that BC is a promising alternative to gelatin capsules with both immediate and sustained drug release properties depending upon the compositions of the encapsulated materials.