Oral bioavailability enhancement of acyclovir by self-microemulsifying drug delivery systems (SMEDDS)

Acyclovir is a potent anti-viral agent useful in the treatment of Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) infections. Acyclovir exerts its anti-viral activity by competitive inhibition of viral DNA through selective binding of acyclovir to HSV-thymidine kinase. The main purpose of this work was to develop self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) for oral bioavailability enhancement of acyclovir. Solubility of acyclovir was determined in various vehicles. SMEDDS is mixture of oils, surfactants, and co-surfactants, which are emulsified in aqueous media under conditions of gentle agitation and digestive motility that would be encountered in the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract. Pseudoternary phase diagrams were constructed to identify the efficient self-emulsifying region dilution study was also performed for optimization of formulation. SMEDDS was evaluated for its percentage transmittance, Assay of SMEDDS, phase separation study, droplet size analysis, zeta potential, electrophoretic mobility, and viscosity. The developed SMEDDS formulation contained acyclovir (50 mg), Tween 60 (60%), glycerol (30%) and sunflower oil (9%) was compared with the pure drug solution by oral administrating to male albino rats. The absorption of acyclovir from SMEDDS form resulted about 3.5 fold increase in bioavailability compared with the pure drug solution. Our studies illustrated the potential use of SMEDDS for the delivery of hydrophobic compounds such as acyclovir by oral route.