Surface Modified Phillipsite as a Potential Carrier for NSAIDs Release

This work aims at investigating the possible use of phillipsite (PHI), surface modified with cetylpyridinium chloride (CP), for the prolonged release of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as diclofenac (DS) and ibuprofen (IBU). Drug loading and in vitro drug release kinetics, in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF), were investi-gated to assess the relationship between rock mineralogy and their pharmaceutical properties. Results showed that drug loading was very rapid, although the amount of DS loaded was greater. This might suggest that the loading process of DS consists both in the anion exchange on the surface modified zeolite (SMZ) and in the adsorption within the patchy bilayer. On the contrary, IBU is able to bind to the carrier almost exclusively by ion exchange. Moreover, NSAIDs release in an ionic medium, such as SIF, can be sustained for about 5 hours through a mechanism prevalently governed by anionic exchange, confirming the potentiality of this carrier in pharmaceutical applications.