Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Verapamil hydrochloride nanoparticles formulated with chitosan and sodium alginate by an ionic gelation method

Abdul Moeed¹, Arwa Khalid¹, Sajid Bashir¹, Hamid Bashir², Yasser MSA Al Kahraman³, Tariq Ismail³, Muhammad Imran Amirzada³

¹Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sargodha, Sargodha; ²Center for Applied Molecular Biology, University of The Punjab, Lahore; ³Department of Pharmacy, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, Pakistan.

For correspondence:- Muhammad Amirzada Email: imranamirzada@gmail.com Tel:+92992383591

Accepted: 23 May 2021 Published: 30 June 2021

Citation: Moeed A, Khalid A, Bashir S, Bashir H, Kahraman YM, Ismail T, et al. Verapamil hydrochloride nanoparticles formulated with chitosan and sodium alginate by an ionic gelation method. Trop J Pharm Res 2021; 20(6):1105-1111 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v20i6.1

© 2021 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To formulate chitosan-based nanoparticles for extended release of verapamil so as to reduce its dosing frequency.

Methods: Nanoparticles of chitosan and sodium alginate loaded with verapamil HCl were synthesized using the ionotropic gelation method. The formulations were optimized by cross linking of tripolyphosphate with chitosan, and CaCl₂ with sodium alginate at different concentrations. The ionic gelation method was used to produce seven different formulations. The best formulation for nanoparticles preparation involved using 0.06 % sodium alginate with 18 mM CaCl₂ and of chitosan: TPP (5:1 ratio). The compatibility of verapamil HCl with sodium alginate and chitosan was tested using FTIR.

Results: Verapamil nanoparticles had a direct correlation with the polymer concentrations used. A 5:1 ratio of chitosan:TPP resulted in a particle size of 173 nm, and high drug entrapment. The size of verapamil nanoparticles prepared with sodium alginate was 186 nm (p = 0.02). Cross-linking agent played an important role in the preparation of the nanoparticles. Scanning electron micrographs showed that the nanoparticles were coalesced with one another, and had rough surfaces. Chitosan-based formulations had an entrapment efficiency in the range of 38.63 – 50.58 %, while the entrapment efficiency of sodium alginate-based formulations was 11.70 – 40.57 % (p 0.43).

Conclusion: Verapamil nanoparticles have been successfully formulated by ionic gelation method using natural polymers. The nano-formulations did not exhibit polymer-drug interactions, but manifest extended drug-release profiles.

Keywords: Chitosan, Sodium alginate, Verapamil hydrochloride, Tri-polyphosphate, Nanoparticles