Ibuprofen Release from Poly(L-Lactic Acid)/Cellulose Blend Tablets: Box-Behnken Design for Optimization of the Influenced Parameters

Abstract

According to the literature, blending PLA with cellulose, a natural polymer, can improve their use in the field of drug delivery systems. This work aimed to prepare a ternary mixture of ibuprofen, poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA), and cellulose by the physical mixing method and to determine the effect of three selected factors (PLLA/cellulose blend ratio, percentage of the blend, and time of contact) on the amount of IBF released as a function of time. A Box-Behnken experimental design created using Minitab 17 software was used to study and optimize the selected factors. The percentage of IBF released significantly decreased with increasing PLLA/cellulose blend ratio (X1) and percentage of blend (X2). No significant interactions between the three factors were observed for Y1 (30 minutes), Y2 (60 minutes), and Y3 (120 minutes). A significant interaction between the PLLA/ cellulose ratio and the percentage of the blend was observed only for Y4 (180 minutes). ANOVA revealed that the refined mathematical model equations for Y1, Y3, and Y4 were more adequate than Y2 to explain the investigated total variations.