Preparation and Pharmacokinetics of Huperzine A Micro-porous Osmotic Pump Pellets / 中国药学杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To prepare huperzine A micro-porous osmotic pump pellets and to investigate the pharmacokinetic properties in Beagle dogs. METHODS: The extrusion-spheronisation method was used to prepare the core of huperzine A pellets which then coated by fluid-bed coating technology. Central composite design-response surface method was used to optimize the prescription of coating layer.Then Zero-order, First-order and Higuchi equation of cumulative release with time were fitted to study its release characteristics.The commercially available huperzine A tablets were used as reference preparations to investigate the in vivo pharmacokinetics of huperzine A micro-porous osmotic pump pellets, and the bioequivalence of the two preparations were compared. RESULTS: The formula of coating was optimized as followsEC of 61.5%, PEG400 of 10.5%. Zero-order kinetics existed in the release of the pellets in 24 h. Moreover, the osmotic pressure-controlled delivery was greatly responsible for drug release. In vivo study showed that tmax and ρmax of huperzine A micro-porous osmotic pump pellets were significantly lower than that of the reference preparation, and its t1/2 was significantly prolonged compared with the reference preparation, the relative bioavailability was 95.8%. CONCLUSION: Huperzine A micro-porous osmotic pump pellets had a better sustained release effect in the Beagle dog and have a good correlation in vivo.