Using Supercritical Fluid Technology (SFT) in Preparation of Tacrolimus Solid Dispersions
Tacrolimus is an immunosuppressant agent that suffers from poor and variable bioavailability. This can be related to limited solubility and dissolution. The main objective of this study is to use SFT to prepare solid dispersions of tacrolimus in order to enhance its dissolution. SFT was selected since it offers several advantages over conventional techniques such as efficiency and stability. Several solid dispersions of tacrolimus were prepared using SFT to enhance its dissolution. The selected polymers included soluplus, PVP, HPMC, and porous chitosan. TPGS was used as a surfactant additive with chitosan, HPMC, and PVP. Soluplus dispersions were used to study the effect of processing parameters (time, temperature, and pressure) on loading efficiency (LE) and dissolution of the preparation.