Nanocolloids of indomethacin prepared using sonication and subsequent encapsulation with polysaccharide films

A new procedure was applied for preparation of indomethacin (IMC) nano-particles (ca. 200 nm), which includes ultrasonication of micron range IMC crystals in water, followed by short centrifugation to remove the larger drug particles. In order to stabilize the suspension against aggregation and to reduce the release time of the drug, water insoluble IMC particles were coated with chitosan/pectin (CHI/PEC) multilayer film at pH 4. Charge balance in the multilayer film and increase in the film thickness with the number of adsorbed layers was studied by means of electro-optics. The release time of IMC molecules from the encapsulated particles was measured at physiological pH 7, when the solubility of IMC in water increases several times. Addition of small amount of CaCl2 after deposition of PEC layers was applied to compact the multilayer films on the IMC particles.