Fabrication and In Vitro Characterization of Niosomal Formulations for Controlled Delivery of Ranitidine HCl

Abstract

The present study was aimed to fabricate and evaluate ranitidine HCl loaded niosomal formulation for in vitro pharmacokinetic behaviour. Formulating it as niosomal formulation might be quite
advantageous for prolonging the duration of pharmacological action and improved bioavailability. In the
present study niosomal formulation were prepared by using most documented thin film hydration technique
by using various grades of surfactants (span 20, 40, 60, and 80) in varying ratios with cholesterol, negative
charge inducer; phosphatidic acid (PA) and drug ranitidine HCl. Suitable preformulation studies were conducted like identification of drug, excipient and drug compatibility study. The drug loaded niosomes were
characterized for size and morphology, polydispersity index, zeta potential, drug entrapment, in vitro release
and stability study. The results showed that the vesicles formed were spherical in shape, size ranging between
1.14 ± 1.23 to 5.30 ± 0.24 µm with zeta potential values indicating good stability. The formulation containing
span 60 (F6) showed the highest entrapment efficiency (92.33 ± 2.03%) and release results after 12 h (Q8h =
76.21 ± 0.21). All the formulations showed prolonged release profile for more than 12 h with release kinetics
better suited to zero order release pattern. Thus the ranitidine HCl loaded niosomal formulation may be
considered as a very promising drug delivery system which could be successfully employed for prolonging
the drug release and overcoming the drawbacks of conventional drug delivery systems.