ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Study the effect of self-microemulsifying drug delivery system(SMEDDS) on the solubility and absorption of tanshinones to guide the selection of composition of tanshinone SMEDDS.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The solubility of tanshinones in the solution of SMEDDS was determined by UV-spectrometer and the absorption of tanshinone SMEDDS was determined by HPLC as the detection method.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The solubility of tanshinones in solution of SMEDDS was 10 times in water and 2.5 times in micelle solution. The solubility of tanshinones in solution of SMEDDS was increased with the increasing of oil (MCT) in composition of tanshinone SMEDDS. The absorption constants (Ka) in SMEDDS and micelle solution was 0.479 h(-1) and 0.326 h(-1) respectively, and the absorption half life (t1/2) was 1.44 h and 2.12 h respectively. The absorption was increased with the oil increasing in composition of tanshinone SMEDDS.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>SMEDDS can increase the solubility and absorption of tanshinones significantly and the increasing of oil content (MCT) in SMEDDS composition promote the dissolution and absorption of tanshinones.</p>