Piroxicam loaded alginate beads obtained by prilling/microwave tandem technique: Morphology and drug release

This paper presents a tandem technique, based on the combination of prilling and microwave (MW) assisted treatments, to produce biodegradable alginate carriers of piroxicam with different drug controlled release behaviours. Results showed that alginate/piroxicam beads demonstrated high encapsulation efficiency and very narrow dimensional distribution. Beads dried by MW retained shape and size distribution of the hydrated particles while drying rate was strongly increased compared to convective drying processes. Moreover, different MW irradiation regimes promoted interactions between the drug and alginate matrix, affected drug polymorphism as well as inner and surface matrix structure leading to different piroxicam release profiles. High level MW irradiation led to beads with highly porous and swellable matrix able to release piroxicam in few minutes in the intestine while convective drying produced gastro-resistant beads that exhibit sustained piroxicam release (total release in 5.5 h) in intestinal environment. On these results the tandem technique prilling/MW irradiation appears to be promising to obtain alginate carrier with tailored NSAIDs release depending on drug characteristics and MW irradiation.