A mucoadhesive, thermoreversible in situ nasal gel of geniposide for neurodegenerative diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases are becoming prevalent as the population ages. Geniposide could inhibit oxidative stress, reduce apoptosis, protect neuron, and has been used for therapy of the neurodegenerative diseases. The bioavailability of geniposide by nasal route is greater than that by oral administration. However, mucociliary clearance is a rate-limiting factor for nasal route administration. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a mucoadhesive, thermoreversible in situ nasal gel of geniposide. The poloxamers (P407, P188) and the hydroxypropyl methylcellulose were used as thermoreversible and mucoadhesive polymers, respectively. Borneol was used as a permeation enhancer. The hydrogel was prepared with the cold method and optimized by the response surface methodology-central composite design. Gelation temperature, pH, clarity, gel strength, mucoadhesive strength, in vitro and ex vivo release kinetics of formulations were evaluated. The optimized amounts of poloxamer407 (P407), poloxamer188 (P188) and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose were determined to be 19.4–20.5%, 1.1–4.0% and 0.3–0.6% respectively. The second-order polynomial equation in terms of actual factors indicated a satisfactory correlation between the independent variables and the response (R(2) = 0.9760). An ANOVA of the empirical second-order polynomial model indicated the model was significant (P<0.01). P407, P188, P407×P188, P407(2) and P188(2) were significant model terms. The effects of P407 on gelation temperature were greater than those of other independent variables. The pH values of all the formulations were found to be within 6.3–6.5 which was in the nasal physiological pH range 4.5–6.5. The drug content, gel strength, mucoadhesive strength of the optimized formulations were 97–101%, 25–50 sec and 4000–6000 dyn/cm(2) respectively. The in vitro release kinetics of cumulative release of geniposide was fitted to the zero-order model. The ex vivo cumulative release kinetics of geniposide was fitted to the Weibull model. This study concludes that the release of geniposide is controlled by gel corrosion, and that the permeation of geniposide is time-dependent. The more residence time, mucoadhesive, thermoreversible in situ nasal gel of geniposide for neurodegenerative diseases is of compliance and potential application.