Development and Evaluation of Rosuvastatin Loaded Microemulsion for Oral Drug Delivery Systems

Abstract

The main purpose of this work was to develop an oral microemulsion formulation for enhancing the bioavailability and solubility of rosuvastatin. HMG-CoA Reductase inhibitor rosuvastatin is a weakly water-soluble hypolipidemic drug. The oil, surfactant, and co-surfactant used to create the oil in water microemulsion were olive oil as oil, Tween 80 as a surfactant, and Polyethylene Glycol-400 as a co-surfactant. By creating pseudoternary diagrams, the optimal surfactant: co-surfactant ratio (S mix) was determined. Selected formulations were evaluated by Particle size, DSC, XRD, Scanning Electron microscopy and freeze thawing method. Solubility of Rosuvastatin has improved, which could increase the drug's oral bioavailability. A dialysis bag method was used to perform an in vitro dissolution study for an optimised microemulsion, and the cumulative percentage drug release was calculated. The microemulsion formulations that passed the thermodynamic stability testing were determined to be stable.