Stability of Tetracycline Hydrochloride in Reverse Micelles

The objective of this study was to investigate the stability of tetracycline HCl on encapsulation into and inside reverse micelles. To do so, tetracycline HCl was first mixed with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, water and ethyl formate to make reverse micelles. The degradation kinetics of tetracycline HCl inside the reverse micelles was then assessed by scrutinizing its stability data. Under our experimental conditions, the reverse micelles formed spontaneously in absence of any mixing devices. During the preparation of the reverse micelles, however, considerable portions of tetracycline HCl underwent a chemical reaction (e.g., epimerization). For instance, $51.4{\pm}0.6%$ of an initial concentration of tetracycline HCl was transformed into a degradation product. Once dissolved inside the reverse micelles, the degradation of tetracycline HCl followed an exponential decay pattern. The plot of log{the degradation rate of tetracycline HCl} versus log{tetracycline HCl concentration} made it possible to determine the order of degradation reaction and rate constant. It was proven that the degradation of tetracycline HCl inside the reverse micelles followed a first order kinetics with a rate constant of 0.0027 $hour^{-1}$. Meriting further investigation might be formulation studies to stabilize tetracycline HCl on encapsulation into and inside the reverse micelles.