Date of Defense
6-4-2026 11:00 AM
Location
F1-1077
Document Type
Thesis Defense
College
College of Engineering
Department
Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
First Advisor
Belal Al Zaitone
Keywords
Spray drying, dry powder inhalation, cromolyn sodium, leucine, aerosol performance
Abstract
Cromolyn sodium (CS) is an anti-inflammatory drug that can be used for the effective treatment of respiratory diseases such as asthma. Spray drying techniques are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry to produce fine drug powders for pulmonary delivery. The study aimed to develop a new dry powder formulation of CS in combination with leucine and mannitol by spray drying. The target of this study was to develop an inhalable formulation with improved fine particle fraction and less ethanol percentage in the feed solution. To obtain respirable CS: Leucine: Mannitol microparticles, process variables such as total solid concentration, leucine weight %, solvent (ethanol: water) ratio, and inlet temperature were varied. The obtained spray -dried powder were characterized in terms of yield, particle size, morphology, crystallinity, drug release rate, and fine particle fraction. The particles 1-10 µm in size with high yield were obtained by spray drying, even with less amount of ethanol in the feed solution. Moreover, all the formulations showed rapid drug release. Aerosol performance was measured using a next generation impactor. The maximum fine particle fraction was obtained for the formulation containing 5% total solid concentration, 10% leucine, 12.5% ethanol, and inlet temperature of 150 ◦C. Therefore, the addition of leucine helped to improve the fine particle fraction and reduce the ethanol percentage in the feed solution. It can be concluded that addition of more amount of leucine in less total solid concentration can further enhance the aerosol performance of CS for pulmonary delivery.
Included in
Spray Drying of Cromolyn Sodium for Pulmonary Delivery
F1-1077
Cromolyn sodium (CS) is an anti-inflammatory drug that can be used for the effective treatment of respiratory diseases such as asthma. Spray drying techniques are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry to produce fine drug powders for pulmonary delivery. The study aimed to develop a new dry powder formulation of CS in combination with leucine and mannitol by spray drying. The target of this study was to develop an inhalable formulation with improved fine particle fraction and less ethanol percentage in the feed solution. To obtain respirable CS: Leucine: Mannitol microparticles, process variables such as total solid concentration, leucine weight %, solvent (ethanol: water) ratio, and inlet temperature were varied. The obtained spray -dried powder were characterized in terms of yield, particle size, morphology, crystallinity, drug release rate, and fine particle fraction. The particles 1-10 µm in size with high yield were obtained by spray drying, even with less amount of ethanol in the feed solution. Moreover, all the formulations showed rapid drug release. Aerosol performance was measured using a next generation impactor. The maximum fine particle fraction was obtained for the formulation containing 5% total solid concentration, 10% leucine, 12.5% ethanol, and inlet temperature of 150 ◦C. Therefore, the addition of leucine helped to improve the fine particle fraction and reduce the ethanol percentage in the feed solution. It can be concluded that addition of more amount of leucine in less total solid concentration can further enhance the aerosol performance of CS for pulmonary delivery.