Levodopa Incorporation in Alginate Membranes for Drug Delivery Studies

Abstract

Parkinsons Disease (PD) is the second most common progressive neurodegenerative disorder and is referred as a leading cause of neurologic disability. The symptoms and signs of PD result from a decrease of dopamines level in the basal ganglia. Accordingly to this, exogenous substitution with dopamine agonists like levodopa, is used to correct the mechanical disorders at the early stages of the disease. Levodopa is referred as a standard in the treatment of PD. The modern studies of PD drug development and experimental therapeutics focuses on the concept of slowing and targeting the release of levodopa to prolong the therapeutic effect and reduce the number of administrations. The transdermal route was thought to be the best route for providing a progressive supply of levodopa to the systemic circulation. Alginate was chosen as a drug carrier because of its biocompatible and biodegradable properties and also because it has been widely used in drug delivery systems (DDS). The aim of this research work was to produce alginate membranes with and without levodopa. A solvent casting based methodology was used. Calcium chloride was assayed as crosslinking agent. Membranes were characterized using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) techniques. Drug release was evaluated using UV Spectrophotometry.