Eudragit S100 microparticles containing sodium pantoprazole: drug release, intestinal absorption and in vitro/ex vivo correlation

The objective of this work was to analyze pantoprazole-loaded microparticles prepared by spray-drying using Eudragit S100 regarding their gastro-resistance, drug release and intestinal permeation in order to verify the drug protection and whether the flow through cell apparatus could predict the adsorption behavior of microencapsulated drug. The microparticles were effective in protecting the drug in acidic medium. Absorption profiles (everted gut sac model) were correlated to the in vitro dissolution profiles. A level A in vitro/ex vivo correlation was established with correlation coefficients of 0.993 and 0.997 for pure drug and the microparticulated drug, respectively.