Formulation, Characterization and Evaluation of Gliclazideloaded Nanofiber for Diabetes Management by QbD Approach

Poor solubility, erratic bioavailability and delivery challenges associated with gliclazide, can be overcome by exploring electrospun nanofibers technology using a Quality by design (QbD) approach. Using a design of experiment, factors influencing the % drug release were investigated. Polymer concentration, applied voltage, and flow rate are the parameters examined. Polymer concentration was shown to be the only statistically significant factor within the ranges studied (p-value = 0.0042). The optimized processing conditions identified were a applied voltage of 19 kV, with a flow rate of 0.05 mL/min. Using this knowledge, the production optimization of electrospun PMMA & PVPK90 polymer with gliclazide, a antidiabetic drug, was explored. Employing solution-based electrospinning method with (PVPK90) alone and in combination with (PMMA), nanofibers were fabricated. Fabricated gliclazide-nanofibers were characterized by various studies, such as solubility, in-vitro drug release, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetric (DSC), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. MDPF, formulation of PMMA: PVPK90: GLC (7:3:15% w/v) produced optimized gliclazide nanofibers.