Factors affecting the process of preparation of chitosan microparticles loading glimepiride

Chitosan microparticles possess outstanding features such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, and non-toxicity. In drug delivery systems, chitosan microparticles were used to improve solubility, stability and to control drug release. Glimepiride is a third-generation sulfonylurea classified as BCS class II, with poor solubility, a short half-life, and high interindividual variability in bioavailability. Therefore, chitosan microparticles are required to control drug release. The chitosan microparticle containing glimepiride was prepared by ionic gelation technique via cross-linking with sodium tripolyphosphate. The influence of factors such as types of chitosan, chitosan concentration, glimepiride concentration, tripolyphosphate concentration, chitosan:TPP volume ratio was evaluated through size, loading capacity and ability to control release of glimepiride. The above-mentioned characteristics were greatly influenced by the concentration of chitosan, glimepiride and sodium tripolyphosphate and chitosan:TPP volume ratio. Therefore, the microparticle preparation process was greatly influenced by the concentration of the components that create the microparticle structure.