Formulation, Development, and Characterization of Carboxymethyl Chitosan Triggered Calcium Carbonate Hybrid Microspheres for Sustained Delivery of Quetiapine: In-vitro and Ex-vivo Studies.

Quetiapine (QTP) is a moderately water-soluble biopharmaceutical classification system (BCS) class II antipsychotic drug used to treat schizophrenia. Carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) microspheres were prepared using a co-precipitation approach. The Quetiapine was translocated to the brain through a nasal route using carboxymethyl chitosan-calcium carbonate (CMC-CaCO3) hybrid microspheres. During this process, optimization controlled the size of the microspheres by controlling the volume of solution, precipitating agent, and concentration ratios of the precursors. The optimized batch showed a narrow size distribution with high stability in the dispersed phase as characterized by dynamic light scattering. Preliminary characterization revealed crosslinking formation between the carboxymethyl groups of chitosan and the CaCO3 may be responsible for the spherical structure. The preliminary evaluations were done with Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and UV visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). The surface morphology was assessed by scanning electron microscopy that showed the microscale range of the spherical-shaped particles. The ex-vivo mucoadhesive studies suggested a high binding affinity toward mucin, having a sustained release effect for up to 8 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]