Vildagliptin-loaded gellan gum mucoadhesive beads for sustained drug delivery: design, optimisation and evaluation

The work investigates the design and optimisation of vildagliptin (VLG)-loaded gellan gum beads for sustained release delivery. The VLG beads were prepared by the ionotropic-gelation method. A 3(2) response surface methodology was used to optimised the effects of independent variables such as gellan gum to sodium alginate ratio (X-1) and concentration of CaCl2 (X-2 %) on dependent variables such as entrapment efficiency (EE) (Y-1 %) and drug release (DR) (Y-2 %). The prepared beads were characterised by employing EE, bead diameter, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and DR. The values of %EE were in ranges of 76.20-91.25% and %DR was in ranges of 76.33 +/- 1.64-85.12 +/- 1.38% for duration of 12 hours. The optimised beads showed pH-dependent swelling and good mucoadhesivity. The VLG-loaded SA-GG beads were successfully prepared and seem to be promising for sustained release action for 12 hours duration.

Automated summary

The research focused on designing and optimizing Vildagliptin-loaded gellan gum beads for sustained drug release, utilizing response surface methodology to determine the effects of independent variables on dependent variables. The prepared beads exhibited high entrapment efficiency and drug release, as well as pH-dependent swelling and mucoadhesivity.