Powerful antioxidant α-lipoic acid (LA) is easily degraded under light and heating. This creates difficulties in its manufacture, storage and reduces efficiency and safety of the drug. The purpose of this work was to synthesize novel silica-based composites of LA and evaluate their ability to increase photo and thermal stability of the drug. It was assumed that the drug stabilization can be achieved due to LA-silica interactions. Therefore, the composites of LA with unmodified and organomodified silica matrixes were synthesized by sol-gel method at the synthesis pH below or above the pKa of the drug. The effects of silica matrix modification and the synthesis pH on the LA-silica interactions and kinetics of photo and thermal degradation of LA in the composites were studied. The nature of the interactions was revealed by FTIR spectroscopy. It was found that the rate of thermal degradation of the drug in the composites was significantly lower compared to free LA and mainly determined by the LA-silica interactions. However, photodegradation of LA in the composites under UV irradiation was either close to that for free drug or significantly more rapid. It was shown that kinetics of photodegradation was independent of the interactions and likely determined by physical properties of surface of the composite particles (porosity and reflectivity). The most promising composites for further development of novel silica-based formulations were identified.
The sol-gel composite of warfarin - phenyl modified silica is perspective for further development of novel warfarin formulation with controlled release because it releases warfarin according to zero-order kinetic law with approximately equal rate in the media imitating different segments of gastrointestinal tract.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.