Effect of Additive of the Encapsulated Amounts and Solubility of Poorly Water-soluble Ibuprofen in Gelatin Microcapsules

Poorly water-soluble ibuprofen and ethanol can be encapsulated in gelatin microcapsule by spray drying technique. To select an optimal formula of ibuprofen-loaded gelatin microcapsule which increased the ethanol content and ibuprofen solubility with the decreased amount of gelatin in the microcapsules, in this study, the effect of gelatin, ibuprofen and sodium lauryl sulfate on the ibuprofen solubility and the amount of ethanol and ibuprofen encapsulated in the gelatin microcapsule were investigated. Ibuprofen solubility and the amount of ethanol encapsulated increased as gelatin and sodium lauryl sulfate increased, reached maximum at 4% and 0.6%, respectively and then followed a rapid decrease. Furthermore, the ibuprofen solubility and the encapsulated ibuprofen content increased as the amount of ibuprofen increased, reaching maximum at 0.5% and beyond that, there was no change in the solubility and ibuprofen content. However, the encapsulated ethanol content remained same irrespective of the amount of ibuprofen. On the basis of increased ibuprofen solubility, our results showed that the formula of ibuprofen-loaded gelatin microcapsule at the ratio of gelatin/ibuprofen/sodium lauryl sulfate/water/ethanol of 4/0.5/0.6/30/70 with ibuprofen solubility of about $290\;{\mu}g/mL$ and ethanol content of about $160\;{\mu}g/mg$ could be a potential oral delivery system for poorly water-soluble ibuprofen.