Mesoporous silicon microparticles for oral drug delivery: Loading and release of five model drugs

Mesoporous silicon (PSi) microparticles were produced using thermal carbonization (TCPSi) or thermal oxidation (TOPSi) to obtain surfaces suitable for oral drug administration applications. The loading of five model drugs (antipyrine, ibuprofen, griseofulvin, ranitidine and furosemide) into the microparticles and their subsequent release behaviour were studied. Loading of drugs into TCPSi and TOPSi microparticles showed, that in addition to effects regarding the stability of the particles in the presence of aqueous or organic solvents, surface properties will affect compound affinity towards the particle. In addition to the surface properties, the chemical nature of the drug and the loading solution seems to be critical to the loading process. This was reflected in the obtained loading efficiencies, which varied between 9% and 45% with TCPSi particles. The release rate of a loaded drug from TCPSi microparticles was found to depend on the characteristic dissolution behaviour of the drug substance. When the dissolution rate of the free/unloaded drug was high, the microparticles caused a delayed release. However, with poorly dissolving drugs, the loading into the mesoporous microparticles clearly improved dissolution. In addition, pH dependency of the dissolution was reduced when the drug substance was loaded into the microparticles.