Prevention of crystal growth in Acetaminophen suspensions by the use of polyvinyl pyrrolidone and bovine serum albumin

Abstract

The ability of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) in inhibition of the crystal growth in suspensions containing Acetaminophen as a model drug was evaluated. For t his purpose sedimentation volume, resuspendability, cake formation, particle size distribution, volume surface diameter (dvs), and crystal growth after freeze-thaw cycling of the several suspensions were evaluated. ANOVA followed by Tukey test was used to determine significant differences (P<0.05). PVP in comparison with BSA showed a better crystal growth inhibition and at concentrations of 50-100 mg/ 100 ml inhibited crystal growth over 150 days. The combination of PVP and BSA showed an inhibition of acetaminophen crystal growth after 45 and 150 days respectively. The combination of PVP (50 mg/100 ml) and BSA (80 mg/100 ml) showed interesting results regarding sedimentation volume, resuspendability, prevention of cake formation, and crystal growth inhibition; and offer new perspectives in the preparation of suspensions.