Response surface methodology study of extended-time metformin/Glibenclamide drug delivery system from polycaprolactone/Polyethylene glycol electrospun nanofibers.

Regulated delivery of drugs plays a key role in control and treatment of diabetes type II. The lack of patient compliance is one of the main hurdles of successful regulated drug delivery. Extended release drug delivery systems are one of the best solutions for this problem. Electrospinning is an easy method for production of nanofibers as drug delivery systems capable of being tailored for various release kinetics, including extended release form. Response surface methodology is employed to fine tune input variables, including electrical field intensity, base polymer ratio, and total polymer concentration to study the behavior of output parameters. The study validates the feasibility of using polyethylene glycol (PEG)/polycaprolctone (PCL) nanofibers drug delivery systems as an extended time release medium for metformin and glibenclamide co-delivery. A new drug release model is presented and its parameters indicate the possibility of using drug for at least T 60 = 60 h with average and sustained release rate of 5.37 μ g drug / g solid h . The system traps as little as 10% of loaded metformin and 23% of loaded glibenclamide. The mathematical model presented in this study can be used to predict the release behavior of various drug release systems. Because it can account for the varying beginning slope of the release profile, it is capable of correctly assessing the release behavior of slow release to burst release drug delivery systems. The degree of swelling and weight loss (2.48 ± 0.26% and 0.44 ± 0.02%) of prepared samples and the effect of slightly acidic pH was investigated showed that these formulations could be considered for trans dermal delivery of metformin and glibenclamide. In-vitro study of L6 myotube cells also indicated that the delivery system is capable of retaining acceptable glucose intake at 72 and 168 h (65.95 ± 4.59 % and 45.17 ± 5.12 % respectively). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]