Effect of decisive formulation variables on bioencapsulation efficiency and integrity of yeast biocapsules for oral itraconazole delivery.

Reproducible delivery of drugs through bioencapsulation in cellular carriers is severely limited by biovariability in cellular carriers and effects of decisive formulation variables. Surmounting the constraints in reproducible results, our work explores optimization methodology for precise and reproducible cellular bioencapsulation technology for poorly water soluble drug. Active-dried baker's yeast cells were selected as cellular carriers for poorly soluble antimycotic agent itraconazole (ITZ). Pre-treatment of yeast cells with various techniques exhibited substantial augmentation in bioencapsulation efficiency (%BE). Sequentially optimized values of formulation variables like bioencapsulation temperature (40-50°C), stirring rate (350 rpm) and time (5 h) exhibited highest %BE with desired reproducibility. In comparison with marketed product, bioencapsulated itraconazole demonstrated marked increase in solubility with more than 70% release in 10 min. Compression pressure equivalent to tablet hardness of 2.0-3.5 kg/cm(2) was optimum to maintain integrity of biocapsules. Resulting biocapsules exhibited safe residual solvent content, inertness for fermentation ability and excellent stability at accelerated conditions.