Control Engineering Group, Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden; Department of Pharmaceutics, UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX, UK.
Division of Material Science, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.
Int J Pharm. 2021 Feb 15;595:120197. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.120197. Epub 2021 Jan 22.
Oral films (OFs) continue to attract attention as drug delivery systems, particularly for pedatric and geriatric needs. However, immiscibility between different polymers limits the full potential of OFs from being explored. One example is pullulan (PUL), a novel biopolymer which often has to be blended with other polymers to reduce cost and alter its mechanical properties. In this study, the state-of-the-art in fabrication techniques, three-dimensional (3D) printing was used to produce hybrid film structures of PUL and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), which were loaded with caffeine as a model drug. 3D printing was used to control the spatial deposition of films. HPMC was found to increase the mean mechanical properties of PUL films, where the tensile strength, elastic modulus and elongation break increased from 8.9 to 14.5 MPa, 1.17 to 1.56 GPa and from 1.48% to 1.77%, respectively. In addition, the spatial orientation of the hybrid films was also explored to determine which orientation could maximize the mechanical properties of the hybrid films. The results revealed that 3D printing could modify the mechanical properties of PUL whilst circumventing the issues associated with immiscibility.
口腔膜（OFs）作为药物传递系统继续引起关注，特别是对于儿科和老年患者的需求。然而，不同聚合物之间的不混溶性限制了 OFs 的全部潜力。其中一个例子是普鲁兰（PUL），这是一种新型生物聚合物，通常需要与其他聚合物混合以降低成本并改变其机械性能。在这项研究中，采用了最先进的制造技术——三维（3D）打印技术，来生产普鲁兰（PUL）和羟丙基甲基纤维素（HPMC）的混合膜结构，并用咖啡因作为模型药物进行了负载。3D 打印用于控制膜的空间沉积。结果发现，HPMC 增加了 PUL 膜的平均机械性能，拉伸强度、弹性模量和断裂伸长率分别从 8.9 MPa 增加到 14.5 MPa、从 1.17 GPa 增加到 1.56 GPa 和从 1.48%增加到 1.77%。此外，还探索了混合膜的空间取向，以确定哪种取向可以最大限度地提高混合膜的机械性能。结果表明，3D 打印可以在避免不混溶性问题的同时，改变 PUL 的机械性能。
