Preparation and evaluation of spray-dried hyaluronic acid microspheres for intranasal delivery of fexofenadine hydrochloride

Hyaluronic acid (HA)-based microspheres containing PEG 6000 and/or sodium taurocholate (NaTC) were prepared by the spray-drying method for nasal delivery of fexofenadine hydrochloride (HCl). Their physicochemical properties including particle size and drug contents were determined, while their morphology examined by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The effects of the solubilizer (PEG 6000) and the permeation enhancer (NaTC) on the in vitro release characteristics of fexofenadine·HCl were observed. Moreover, the in vitro permeation of fexofenadine·HCl was determined using the human nasal cell (HNE) monolayers cultured on Transwell® inserts. After nasal administration, fexofenadine·HCl in rabbit plasma was determined by the LC–MS/MS system. Fexofenadine·HCl-loaded microspheres were of spherical shape with 20–30 μm mean diameter. The loading efficiency was about 95%. In vitro release of fexofenadine·HCl from the microspheres was significantly increased with the addition of PEG 6000. Although NaTC did not alter the in vitro release of drug from the microspheres, its addition further increased the in vitro permeation of fexofenadine·HCl across the HNE cell monolayers. Moreover, the bioavailability of fexofenadine·HCl after nasal administration of the microsphere formulation to rabbits was increased up to about 48% while that of the control solution was only about 3%. These results indicated that the HA microsphere formulation could further be developed into a clinically useful nasal delivery system of fexofenadine·HCl.