Influence of the Impregnation Technique on the Release of Esomeprazole from Various Bioaerogels

The presented study shows the possibility of using bioaerogels, namely neat alginate, pectin, chitosan aerogels, and alginate and pectin aerogels coated with chitosan, as drug delivery systems for esomeprazole. Two different techniques were used for the impregnation of esomeprazole: Supercritical impregnation, and diffusion via ethanol during the sol-gel synthesis. The prepared samples were characterized by employing N₂ adsorption-desorption analysis, TGA/DSC, and FTIR. The achieved loadings were satisfactory for all the tested samples and showed to be dependent on the technique used for impregnation. In all cases, higher loadings were achieved when impregnation via diffusion from ethanol was used. Extensive release studies were performed for all impregnated samples. The in vitro dissolution profiles were found to be dependent on the carrier and impregnation method used. Most importantly, in all cases more controlled and delayed release was achieved with the bioaerogels compared to using pure esomeprazole.