Coaxial electrospinning with acetic acid for preparing ferulic acid/zein composite fibers with improved drug release profiles.

This study investigated drug/zein composite fibers prepared using a modified coaxial electrospinning process. With unspinnable acetic acid as sheath liquid and an electrospinnable co-dissolving solution of zein and ferulic acid (FA) as core fluid, the modified coaxial process could run smoothly and continuously without any clogging. Compared with those from the single-fluid electrospinning process, the FA-loaded zein fibers from the modified process were rounder and possessed higher quality in terms of diameter and distribution, as verified by scanning electron microscopic observations of their surface and cross-section. Differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction showed that fibers from both processes similarly formed a composite with the FA present in the zein matrix in an amorphous state. The driving force of encapsulation of FA into zein fibers was hydrogen bonding, as evidenced by the attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectra. However, in vitro dissolution tests demonstrated that the fibers from the coaxial process exhibited better sustained-release profiles with a smaller initial burst effect and less tailing-off release compared with those from the single process. The modified coaxial electrospinning process is a useful tool for generating nanofibers with higher quality and improved functional performance.

Third generation solid dispersions of ferulic acid in electrospun composite nanofibers.

Third generation solid dispersions (SDs) of ferulic acid (FA) in composite nanofibers were prepared using electrospinning. The spinning liquids involved co-dissolving solutions of FA, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and sucralose in 75% ethanol aqueous solutions. FESEM observations showed that the nanofibers were assembled in a homogeneous web structure that had a smooth cross-section and surface with an average diameter of 254±32 nm. Results from DSC and XRD suggested that FA, SDS and sucralose were distributed in the PVP fibers in an amorphous manner and this is due to their compatibility resulting through a second-order interactions, as demonstrated by ATR-FTIR spectra. In vitro dissolution and permeation tests showed that the nanofiber-based SDs could release all the contained FA within 1 min and had a 13-fold higher permeation rate across sublingual mucosa compared to crude FA particles. The casting films have the same compositions as the nanofibers and belong to the third generation SDs, they gave the same solubility of FA as the nanofibers, and also exhibited a much faster dissolution rate than pure FA particles. It felt that electrospinning can be taken to prepare new generation SDs with structural characteristics that enhancing absorbance of poorly soluble drugs.