INHALED FLUTICASONE PROPIONATE DRY POWDER FOR THE EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF ASTHMA

Abstract

Dry powder inhaler has become an attractive platform for pulmonary drug delivery. Dry powder inhalers are commonly used to treat asthma and other pulmonary diseases. Dry powder inhalers chiefly consist of micronized drug admixed with the carrier particles which aid in the flow of the drug in the respiratory tract. The dry powder formulations of  fluticasone propionate were prepared with different coarse and fine lactose grades such as Respitose® SV003, Respitose® SV010, Respitose® ML001, Respitose® ML006 and Lactohale® LH 230, Inhalac® 230 and Inhalac® 400 and evaluated for flow properties, emitted and fine particle dose, content and blend uniformity. The final coarse and fine lactose grades were Inhalac® 230 and Inhalac® 400 based on the flow properties. 32 factorial design was applied for the formulation optimization. The final device used was Breezhaler®. The optimized batch showed a fine particle fraction of 8.99 ± 3.71 with a mass median aerodynamic diameter of 3.40 ± 0.02 thus showing the efficiency of dry powder inhalers in the delivery of fluticasone propionate deep into the lungs.