Enhancement of solubility and dissolution profile of artesunate by employing solid dispersion approach: An in-vitro evaluation

Current study was designed with an aim to improve the solubility and dissolution profile of artesunate by preparing solid dispersions through solvent evaporation and freeze-drying techniques using polyethylene glycol 4000 (PEG4000) as solubility enhancer. Developed formulations were characterized for FTIR, XRD, TGA and SEM. Maximum increase in solubility was attained by freeze-dried solid dispersions (FD F444) i.e. 2.99 folds and 2.66 folds by solvent evaporation solid dispersion (SE F44) as compare to pure drug. Amorphous nature of artesunate in solid dispersions was confirmed from XRD diffractographs. Surface morphology indicated the existence of rough surface in freeze- dried solid dispersions (FDDs) and smooth surface in solvent evaporation solid dispersions (SEDs). Rapid dissolution rates were exhibited by fast dissolving tablets of optimized formulations. Moreover, the release of the drug was dominated by the first order kinetics (R2 = 0.9932) with the Fickian type of diffusion mechanism (n<0.450).