Screening of Most Effective Variables for Development of Gastroretentive Mucoadhesive Nanoparticles by Taguchi Design

The objective of this study was the selection of the most influential variable for the preparation of gastroretentive mucoadhesive nanoparticles of acyclovir. Nanoparticles were prepared by one-step desolvation method; effect of formulation and processing variables on various response variables were studied by a Taguchi standard orthogonal array L8 design. Independent variables studied were the amount of gelatin, amount of glutaraldehyde, amount of Pluronic F-68, acetone addition rate, pH, stirring time, and stirring speed. The dependent variables studied were the particle size, polydispersity index, amount of drug released in 6 h, time required to release 60% of drug, entrapment efficiency, loading efficiency, and mucoadhesiveness. The size of all nanoparticulate formulations prepared as per the experimental design (Taguchi screening design) varied between 165 and 1610 nm, PDI between 0.360 and 1.00, bioadhesiveness between 3.959 and 11.02 g, cumulative percent drug release in 24 h between 40.74 and 72.48, entrapment efficiency between 15.70 and 83.12, and loading efficiency between 39.72 and 80.49. Pareto ranking analyses showed that the two most important factors affecting the selected responses were amount of gelatin and amount of Pluronic F-68 ().