Kolliphor surfactants affect solubilization and bioavailability of fenofibrate. Studies of in vitro digestion and absorption in rats.

Ragna Berthelsen, Rene Holm, Jette Jacobsen, Jakob Kristensen, Bertil Abrahamsson, Anette Müllertz

    27 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Selection of excipients for drug formulations requires both intellectual and experimental considerations as many of the used excipients are affected by physiological factors, e.g., they may be digested by pancreatic enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract. In the present paper we have looked systematically into the differences between Kolliphor ELP, EL, and RH40 and how they affect the bioavailability of fenofibrate, through pharmacokinetic studies in rats and in vitro lipolysis studies. The study design was made as simple as possible to avoid confounding factors, for which reason the tested formulations only comprised an aqueous micellar solution of the model drug (fenofibrate) in varying concentrations (2–25% (w/v)) of the three tested surfactants. Increased concentrations of Kolliphor ELP and EL led to increased fenofibrate AUC0–24h values. For the Kolliphor RH40 formulations, an apparent fenofibrate absorption optimum was seen at 15% (w/v) surfactant, displaying both the highest AUC0–24h and Cmax. The reduced absorption of fenofibrate from the formulation containing the highest level of surfactant (25% w/v) was thought to be caused by some degree of trapping within Kolliphor RH40 micelles. In vitro, Kolliphor ELP and EL were found to be more prone to digestion than Kolliphor RH40, though not affecting the in vivo results. The highest fenofibrate bioavailability was attained from formulations with high Kolliphor ELP/EL levels (25% (w/v)), indicating that these surfactants are the better choice for solubilizing fenofibrate in order to increase the absorption upon oral administration. Due to drug dependent effects of the different types of Kolliphor, more studies are recommended in order to understand which type of Kolliphor is best suited for a given drug.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalMolecular Pharmaceutics
    Volume12
    Issue number4
    Pages (from-to)1062-1071
    Number of pages10
    ISSN1543-8384
    Publication statusPublished - 13 Feb 2015

    Keywords

    • Former Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
    • Bioavailability
    • Fenofibrate
    • In vitro lipolysis
    • micellar trapping
    • Rats
    • surfactant

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