Fabrication and Characterization of Fast-Dissolving Films Containing Escitalopram/Quetiapine for the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder

Major depressive disorder (MMD) is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Approximately one-third of patients with MDD fail to achieve response or remission leading to treatment-resistant depression (TRD). One of the psychopharmacological strategies to overcome TRD is using a combination of an antipsychotic as an augmenting agent with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Among which, an atypical antipsychotic, quetiapine (QUE), and an SSRI, escitalopram (ESC), were formulated as a fixed-dose combination as a fast-dissolving film by coaxial electrospinning. The resultant fiber’s morphology was studied.

SEM images showed that the drug-loaded fibers were smooth, un-beaded, and non-porous with a fiber diameter of 0.9 ± 0.1 µm, while the TEM images illustrated the distinctive layers of the core and shell, confirming the successful preparation of these fibers. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed that both drugs were amorphously distributed within the drug-loaded fibers. The drug-loaded fibers exhibited a disintegration time of 2 s, which accelerated the release of both drugs (50% after 5 min) making it an attractive formulation for oral mucosal delivery. The ex vivo permeability study demonstrated that QUE was permeated through the buccal membrane, but not ESC that might be hindered by the buccal epithelium and the intercellular lipids. Overall, the developed coaxial fibers could be a potential buccal dosage form that could be attributed to higher acceptability and adherence among vulnerable patients, particularly mentally ill patients.

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Materials:

Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP; Mw = 1300 kDa), ethyl alcohol (≥99.5%), sodium chloride NaCl (≥99.5%), sodium phosphate dibasic Na₂HPO₄ (≥99.0%), potassium chloride KCl (99.0–100.5%), potassium phosphate monobasic KH₂PO₄ (≥99.0%), and hydrochloric acid HCl (36.5–38.0%) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA), HPLC grade acetonitrile was obtained from PanReac AppliChem ITW Reagents (Barcelona, Spain), and escitalopram oxalate (ESC) (≥99.95%) and quetiapine fumarate (QUE) (≥99.13%) were kindly donated by Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances Corporation (SPIMACO), also known as SPIMACO ADDWAEIH (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia). Deionized water was generated by Milli Q, Millipore (Billerica, MA, USA), and was used in the preparation of simulated salivary fluid (SSF) pH 6.8 and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) pH 7.4. All organic solvents were of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) grade.

Alkahtani, M.E.; Aodah, A.H.; Abu Asab, O.A.; Basit, A.W.; Orlu, M.; Tawfik, E.A. Fabrication and Characterization of Fast-Dissolving Films Containing Escitalopram/Quetiapine for the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder. Pharmaceutics 2021, 13, 891. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics13060891