Development of Itraconazole Liquisolid Compact: Effect of Polyvinylpyrrolidone on the Dissolution Properties

The aim of this work was to utilize the liquisolid technique to enhance dissolution of itraconazole (ITZ). Liquisolid tablets of ITZ were formulated by using N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone as liquid vehicle, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a precipitation inhibitor and magnesium aluminometasilicate Neusilin® as a carrier and coating material. The effect of PVP level on stability of liquid medication, physicomechnanical properties and dissolution rate of liquisolid compacts was studied in detail. The crystallinity of formulated drug and the interaction between excipients were examined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD). All the liquisolid tablets showed higher drug dissolution rates than the conventional, directly compressed tablets. The flowability of liquisolid powders was slightly improved as the proportion of PVP in ITZ-NMP mixture increased. Moreover, the stability of liquid medication and wetting ability of liquisolid tablets were improved by PVP. The presence of low amount of PVP (≤ 1%) in liquisolid formulation could enhance dissolution of ITZ liquisolid tablets, whereas the percentage of PVP over 5% decreased the dissolution of ITZ from liquisolid tablets. Both DSC and XRPD suggested reduction or loss of ITZ crystallinity upon liquisolid formulations indicating that the drug was almost solubilized and molecularly dispersed with excipients within the liquisolid matrix. It could be shown that increased solubility, wetting properties and surface area available for dissolution contributed to the improvement of the dissolution of ITZ from liquisolid tablets.