Synthesis and application of lamellar double hydroxides: functional adjuvants to increase solubility and drug release systems

Layered double hydroxides (LDH), also known as hydrotalcite compounds, are materials able to incorporate biologically active species, negatively charged, into the interlayer region, to neutralize the positive charges of the lamellae through the ion exchange mechanism. Besides this mechanism, LDH have a high adsorption capacity for positively charged non-ionic materials, through electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonds on its vast surface area. LDH are found in nature and can also be synthesized by simple and low-cost routes, that allow for the isolation of high purity solids. This paper presents the synthesis and characterization of the LDH (CaAl-LDH e MgAl-Cl-LDH), its applications with the antiretroviral drugs efavirenz and zidovudine, and the anti-chagas drug Benznidazol. The materials were characterized by the techniques of X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), differential thermal analysis (DTA), infrared spectroscopy (IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), polarized light microscopy, and elemental analysis of metals and carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen (CHN). It was observed that in systems with CaAl-HDL, obtained by the solvent evaporation method, containing up to 30% of EFZ and 20% of BNZ, the drug became a molecule with amorphous characteristics, losing its crystalline character. This phenomenon could be demonstrated by the absence of the drug crystal planes in the XRD analysis, and also by its melting point in the DSC analysis. In the release experiments, these systems stood out because they promoted an increase in solubility, with LDH-EFZ 30% being the most promising, with an increase in the EFV solubility of 558% compared to the drug itself; and the LDH-BNZ 20% system providing a 702% increase in solubility. Thus, the association between CaAl-LDH and BNZ and EFZ (low solubility drugs) was proven to increase the solubility of these drugs, promoting a higher dissolution rate in in vitro studies. The aqueous solubility of a drug is a prerequisite for obtaining absorption and clinical response for most drugs administered orally. In the system containing MgAl-Cl-LDH and AZT, obtained by the method of co-precipitation at constant pH, it was noticeable that, after the synthesis, the drug became amorphous due to the interaction with the surface of the LDH, as evidenced by the XRD, TG, SEM, and IR analyses. In the release study, it was possible to obtain a profile of the prolonged release of AZT, 90% of the drug in a 24-hour experiment. The cell viability experiment showed that the CaAl-LDH:EFZ and MgAl-Cl-HDL:AZT systems became less toxic than the isolated drugs and the CaAl-HDL:BNZ system did not alter the toxicity of the drug itself, when tested in human macrophage lineage. (author)