Spray-dried microspheres based on methylpyrrolidinone chitosan as new carrier for nasal administration of metoclopramide

Abstract The work purpose was to study the application of 5-methylpyrrolidinone chitosan (MPC) for preparing mucoadhesive microparticles for the nasal administration of drugs. Microspheres were produced by the spray-drying technique using MPC; metoclopramide hydrochloride (MC) was chosen as model drug. Chitosan microparticles were prepared as a comparison. The microparticles obtained were characterised (encapsulation efficiency, morphology, size and drug release behaviour). In-vitro mucoadhesive tests, swelling tests and ex-vivo studies using sheep nasal mucosa were performed. The hydrogel formation from microspheres was studied in different media and at different pHs. Microspheres are able to control the in-vitro MC release. MPC microparticles show good in-vitro mucoadhesive properties and ex-vivo controlled permeation profiles. The hydrogel formation is dependent mainly on the medium used: ionically crosslinked hydrogel was hypothesized. These in-vitro and ex-vivo preliminary results show that spray-dried microspheres based on MPC could be a suitable nasal delivery system for the administration of metoclopramide.