Dissolution enhancement of artemisinin with β-cyclodextrin

The main objective of this research is to improve the dissolution rate of artemisinin (ART) by fabrication with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) as a hydrophilic carrier. Artemisinin nanoparticles and ART/β-CD complexes were successfully fabricated by means of evaporative precipitation of nanosuspension. Characterization of the samples was done by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dissolution tester. Percent dissolution efficiency, mean dissolution time, relative dissolution and similarity factor were calculated for the statistical analysis of dissolution data. FTIR showed some interaction between ART and β-CD, which can be due to the formation of some ART/β-CD complexes. XRD study indicated the presence of two polymorphs of ART, i.e. orthorhombic and triclinic form. Original ART particles and ART nanoparticles fabricated were orthorhombic whereas the free ART in the ART/β-CD complexes (not forming complex with β-CD) was of triclinic form. The crystallinity of ART reduced and more and more ART/β-CD complexes were formed with increasing concentration of β-CD as indicated by the DSC, XRD and FT-IR studies. Artemisinin nanoparticles and ART/β-CD complexes showed significantly faster dissolution than the pure drug due to smaller size (larger surface area), formation of the inclusion complex with β-CD, formation of the triclinic form for remaining free ART (not forming complex with β-CD), and amorphous state formation. Evaporative precipitation of nanosuspension was able to successfully fabricate artemisinin in the nanoparticles and complex forms with significantly faster dissolution rates than that of the original artemisinin. The two polymorphic forms of ART were also fabricated and studied.