CONTEXT: A novel N-succinyl chitosan/alginate hydrogel bead was prepared by the ionic gelation method for controlled delivery of nifedipine (NF). OBJECTIVE: The delivery behavior of NF from the hydrogel bead was studied in rabbit body. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nitrendipine was used as the internal standard and the concentration of NF in serum was determined by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS: The assay was linear from 5 to 755 ng/mL. The limit of quantitation for NF was 5 ng/mL in serum, and the recovery was greater than 90%. The method was used to determine the concentration-time profiles of NF in the serum. The pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by Drug and Statistics (ver 1.0) program. The mean Cmax was 320.2 ± 71.3 μg/L, the mean Tmax was 3.2 ± 0.5 hours, the mean t1/2 was 6.60 ± 2.17 hours, the mean AUC0-24 was 2.03 ± 0.25 mg h/L, the mean AUC0-∞ was 2.50 ± 0.36 mg h/L, the mean MRT0-24 was 8.57 ± 0.19 hours, and the mean MRT0-∞ was 15.2 ± 1.8 hours. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The pharmacokinetic characteristics were found by a two-compartment model following the oral administration of NF-loaded N-succinyl chitosan/alginate hydrogel beads in rabbits.
CONTEXT: A novel N-succinyl chitosan/alginate hydrogel bead was prepared by the ionic gelation method for controlled delivery of nifedipine (NF). OBJECTIVE: The delivery behavior of NF from the hydrogel bead was studied in rabbit body. MATERIALS AND METHODS:Nitrendipine was used as the internal standard and the concentration of NF in serum was determined by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS: The assay was linear from 5 to 755 ng/mL. The limit of quantitation for NF was 5 ng/mL in serum, and the recovery was greater than 90%. The method was used to determine the concentration-time profiles of NF in the serum. The pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by Drug and Statistics (ver 1.0) program. The mean Cmax was 320.2 ± 71.3 μg/L, the mean Tmax was 3.2 ± 0.5 hours, the mean t1/2 was 6.60 ± 2.17 hours, the mean AUC0-24 was 2.03 ± 0.25 mg h/L, the mean AUC0-∞ was 2.50 ± 0.36 mg h/L, the mean MRT0-24 was 8.57 ± 0.19 hours, and the mean MRT0-∞ was 15.2 ± 1.8 hours. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The pharmacokinetic characteristics were found by a two-compartment model following the oral administration of NF-loaded N-succinyl chitosan/alginate hydrogel beads in rabbits.