Dissolution and Duodenal Permeation Characteristics of Lovastatin from Bile Salt Solid Dispersions

Although lovastatin (LS) is widely used in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, its bioavailability is known to be around 5%. This study was aimed to increase the solubility and dissolution-permeation rates of LS using solid dispersions (SDs) with bile salts. The solubilities of LS in water, aqueous bile salt solutions and non-aqueous vehicles were determined, and effects of bile salts on the cellulose or duodenal permeation of LS from SDs were evaluated using a horizontal permeation system. SDs were prepared at various ratios of LS to carriers, such as sodium deoxycholate (SDC), sodium glycocholate (SGC) and/or 2-hydroxypropyl-$\beta$-cyclodextrin (HPCD). The addition of bile salts (25 mM) in water increased markedly the solubility of LS by the micellar solubilization. Some non-aqueous vehicles were effective in solubilizing LS. From differential scanning calorimetric studies, it was found that the crystallinity of LS in SDs disappeared, indicating a formation of amorphous state. The SDs showed markedly enhanced dissolution compared with those of their physical mixtures (PMs) and drug alone. In the dissolution-permeation studies using a cellulose membrane, the donor and receptor solutions were maintained as a sink condition using pH 7.0 phosphate buffer containing 0.05% sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). The flux of LS alone was nearly same as that of LS-SDC-HPCD (1:3:6) PM. However, the flux of LS-SDC-HPCD (1:3:6) SD slightly increased compared with drug alone and PM, suggesting that entrapment of LS in micelles does not significantly hinder the permeation across cellulose membrane. In the dissolution-duodenal permeation studies using a LS-HPCD-SDC (1:3:6) SD, the addition of various bile salts in donor solutions (25 mM) enhanced the permeation of LS markedly, and the fluxes were found to be $0.69{\pm}0.41$, $0.87{\pm}0.51$, $0.84{\pm}0.46$, $0.47{\pm}0.17$ and $0.68{\pm}0.32{\mu}g/cm^2/hr$ for sodium cholate (SC), SDC, SGC, sodium taurodeoxycholate (STDC) and sodium taurocholate (STC), respectively. The stepwise increase of donor SGC concentration increased the flux dose-dependently. From the relationship of donor SGC concentration and flux, the concentration of SGC initiating the permeation across the duodenal mucosa was calculated to be 11.1 mM, which is nearly same as the critical micelle concentration (CMC, 11.6 mM) of SGC. However, with no addition of bile salts and below CMC, the permeation was very limited and irratic, indicating that LS itself is very poor permeable. Higher protions of bile salt in SD such as LS-SDC or LS-SGC (1 : 49 and 1 : 69) showed highly promoted fluxes. In conclusion, SD systems with bile salts, which may form their micelles in intestinal fluids, might be a promising means for providing enhanced dissolution and intestinal permeation of practically insoluble and non-absorbable LS.

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