(575d) Drug Loading in Pulp Cellulose Fibre and Its Release Behaviour

Delivery of drug at the diseased site in a controlled dosage is an unresolved challenge to Medical/ Pharmaceutical world. In spite of availability of various drugs, the fate of a specific drug mainly depends on how efficient is the mode of its’ delivery, that reduces burst release, suppresses side effect. Various delivery carriers (patches, bio-degradable polymers, nano sized vesicles, micelles etc.) are nowadays quite common. Mostly, the source of carriers, cost, in vivo stability, and unexpected side effect of drug loaded formulation limit their applicability. The stability of any formulation depends on the drug-carrier interactions. Naturally available cellulose fibres obtained from pulping process are being proposed for loading of NaHCO₃ (antacid) and Paracitamol (anti-inflamatory). The loading efficiency of each drug type and its release behaviour are compared. The Fick's diffusion model is proposed to account the release behaviour. Cellulose fibre micro-structures were characterised using FESEM and found that cellulose molecules (hydroxyl groups) favour loading of polar species (NaHCO₃) onto cellulose. Non- polar paracitamol molecules remained a big challenge in loading, and can only be done after surface modification. The diffusion coefficient was estimated to fit the experimental release profile.