The improvement of ibuprofen dissolution rate through microparticles spray drying processed in an aqueous system

A study to enhance the dissolution rate of ibuprofen, a poorly water-soluble drug, was carried out through combining specific formulations and processes with the addition of a hydrophilic carrier for the preparation of microparticles. Microparticle production was performed by spray drying ibuprofen microsuspensions formulated in an aqueous system with the addition of ethanol containing Aerosil 200 and Tween 80. We were able to consistently produce microparticles as much as 40% of the dry weight of the input microsuspension. Spray-dried microparticles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, laser diffractometer mastersizer, and infrared spectroscopy. No modification to the crystalinity and chemical structure of ibuprofen was observed. Dissolution of ibuprofen microparticles reached 100% in 3 minutes compared with less than 10% for unmodified ibuprofen. We concluded that both by the modification of formulation and the spray drying process it is possible to increase the dissolution rate of the tested model drug.