Development and optimization of novel controlled-release pioglitazone provesicular powders using 3² factorial design.

This work aimed at studying a novel controlled drug delivery proniosomal formulation of pioglitazone for treatment of diabetes type-2. The effects of independent variables like type of surfactant and ratio of surfactants/cholesterol were studied using 3(2) factorial design. The provesicular powders were characterized regarding their encapsulation efficiency, vesicle size, morphology, and in vitro drug release. The revealed optimal provesicular powder was exposed to stability testing and in vivo performance evaluation. Results showed that F6 was selected as the optimal formulation, and its in vivo hypoglycemic effect on normal healthy and STZ-induced diabetic albino rats was investigated. F6 proniosomal formulation exhibited a significantly higher % decrease (56.18 % for STZ-induced diabetic albino rats) of blood glucose level (BGL) than Actos® (32. % for STZ-induced diabetic albino rats). Higher % decrease of BGL with longer t max and lower AUC0-24 confirms the development of a successful proniosomal pioglitazone formulation.