Controlled release of a contraceptive steroid from biodegradable and injectable gel formulations: in vitro evaluation

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of formulation factors including varying wax concentration, drug loading and drug particle size, on drug release characteristics from both pure oil and gel formulations prepared with a combination of derivatized vegetable oil (Labrafil 1944 CS) and glyceryl palmitostearate (Precirol ATO 5), using levonorgestrel as a model drug.

The effects of varying drug loadings, different drug particle sizes, and wax (Precirol) concentrations on in-vitro drug release rates were evaluated, and the mechanisms of drug release from the gels were determined.

Zero-order drug release rates from the 10% Precirol gel formulations containing 0.25, 0.50 and 2.00% w/v drug loadings were lower than those observed for oil formulations containing identical drug loadings. Higher zero-order release rates were observed from formulations containing smaller drug particles suspended in both oil and gel formulations. The mechanism of drug release from gels containing less than 0.25% w/w drug was diffusion-controlled. Increasing the wax concentrations in the gels from 5% w/w to 20% w/w significantly decreased the diffusivity of the drug through the gel formulations and markedly increased the force required to inject the gels from two different sizes of needles.

This study shows how modification of the physicochemical properties of the gel formulations by changing the drug particle size, wax concentration and drug loading, affects drug release characteristics from the system.