Development and characterization of mucoadhesive buccal gels containing lipid nanoparticles of ibuprofen.

The lipid nanoparticles, namely Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (NLC), as drug delivery systems have been investigated for several years. One of the delivery routes for which these carriers can be applied is buccal administration. However, the liquid dispersions of lipid nanoparticles can be rapidly removed from oral cavity by saliva. Thus, the development of a system that allows increased retention time on the mucosa is necessary. For this reason, the development of mucoadhesive preparations for buccal administration of lipid nanoparticles becomes important. Hydrogels prepared with mucoadhesive polymers (Carbopol® 980 and polycarbophil) constitute a promising option. The aim of this work was to develop mucoadhesive buccal hydrogels with NLC, using ibuprofen as a model drug. The obtained results showed that the developed NLC dispersions presented particles in the nanometric size range, with low polydispersity index values and efficient ability for the entrapment of the model drug. Moreover, the incorporation of NLC in hydrogels of mucoadhesive polymers resulted in preparations with desirable rheological features as well as texture (firmness and adhesiveness) and mucoadhesive properties, which could benefit the therapeutic efficacy, by increasing the residence time and easiness for topical application in the buccal mucosa. Additionally, the developed preparations exhibited sustained drug release as intended for these systems.