Evaluation of poly(isobutylcyanoacrylate) nanoparticles for mucoadhesive ocular drug delivery. I. Effect of formulation variables on physicochemical characteristics of nanoparticles.

A factorial design was applied to evaluate the effect of formulation variables on physicochemical properties of poly(isobutylcyanoacrylate) nanoparticles. Formulation variables were dextran T40 or T70 and Pluronic F68 or Tween 20 acting as stabilizer and surfactant respectively, and three pH levels (2, 4 and 7). Nanoparticles possessed unimodal particle size distribution with significant effect of dextran, surfactant and pH. A wide range of molecular weight distribution was observed with significant effect of pH and dextran on average molecular weight. NMR studies revealed the presence of dextran, monomer and surfactants in the nanoparticles. Solid state surface analysis using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the presence of three chemical environments to the carbon envelope, O-C = O, C-O/C identical to N and C-C.