Formulation and in vitro/in vivo evaluation of dried nanosuspensions of pitavastatin

The present study is aimed to formulate and evaluate Pitavastatin oral nanosuspension to improve the bioavailability of the drug with varying concentrations of surfactants and co surfactants. Nanosuspension containing the drug was prepared by precipitation method using combinations of polymers (such as tween 80, tween 20, soluplus, PEG 400 and methanol) in to 10 formulations F1to F10. The developed formulations were characterized for particle size and total drug content, SEM, Zeta Potential and FTIR. The in vitro drug release studies and in vitro drug release kinetics were performed for optimized formulations. FTIR studies revealed that drug is compatible with the excipients. The particle size of optimized formulation was found to be 98nm and the zeta potential was found to be 20mV and concluded that the system had sufficient stability. The in vitro drug release was found within their acceptable ranges. The rate of dissolution of best batch was enhanced to 99.98% in 15mins. Stability studies proved that nanosuspensions were more stable with no significant changes in particle size distribution. Thus the formulated oral nanosuspension of Pitavastatin offers a superior conventional dosage forms for drug release.