In Vitro Evaluation of Polyisobutylcyanoacrylate Nanoparticles as a Controlled Drug Carrier for Theophylline

Theophylline nanoparticles were prepared by emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization technique in continuos aqueous phase. The polymerization process was carried out at a pH 3. Different concentrations of isobutylcyacoacrylate (IBCA) were used to investigate the effect of monomer concentration. The in vitro release of theophylline in phosphate buffer was studied. An HPLC assay was used to follow the release of the drug from the nanospheres. This polymerization technique was able to hold 2349% of the drug initially dissolved in the aqueous medium. The percentage drug loading is a monomer concentration dependent. Increasing the monomer concentration above 40 μL per mL resulted in a less significant increase in the percentage drug loading. The percentage of drug retained in nanospheres up to 24 hr followed first order kinetics (r = 0.94-0.98). The release rate constant of theophylline from nanoparticles is inversely related to the monomer concentration in the initial solution (r = 0.996). In the mean time the release rate constant of theophylline from the nanoparticles was directly related to the amount of the drug added initially (r = 0.990).