Fatty acid based eutectic systems to improve solubility and sustained release of simvastatin

• Autor(a) principal: Teixeira, Isabel Maria Melo
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/141382
• topic: Simvastatin; Fatty acids; Deep eutectic systems; PGSS; Domínio/Área Científica::Engenharia e Tecnologia::Outras Engenharias e Tecnologias

This work is focused on the production of particles of simvastatin using sustainable solvents and technologies (deep eutectic systems and supercritical carbon dioxide - CO2). The main objectives are the improvement of simvastatin solubility and its controlled release in aqueous media, leading to an enhancement of simvastatin bioavailability and subsequently allowing the reduction of drug dosage. This makes the overall process more sustainable and can simultaneously improve drug-patient compliance. In a first approach, deep eutectic systems (DESs) for simvastatin enhanced solubility were prepared and characterized, with different compositions of apolar compounds such as fatty acids. After obtaining DESs with high simvastatin solubility, a micronization technique which uses supercritical CO2, particles from gas saturated solutions (PGSS), was used to produce particles containing DESs and simvastatin. Once the production of particles containing DESs and simvastatin was optimized, particles morphology and simvastatin loading were assessed. This work can help to pave the way in further research in the development of new drug delivery systems using these sustainable technologies, not only for simvastatin but possibly for other drugs with poor bioavailability.