A new nanospray drying method for the preparation of nicergoline pure nanoparticles

Three different batches of pure nanoparticles (NPs) of nicergoline (NIC) were prepared by spray drying a water:ethanol solution by a new Nano Spray Dryer Büchi B-90. Spherical pure NPs were obtained, and several analytical techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray powder diffractometry permitted to assess their amorphous character. A comparison of the solubility, intrinsic dissolution, and drug release of original particles and pure amorphous NPs were determined, revealing an interesting improvement of biopharmaceutical properties of amorphous NPs, due to both amorphous properties and nanosize dimensions. Since in a previous work, the high-thermodynamic stability of amorphous NIC was demonstrated, this study is addressed toward the formulation of NIC as pure amorphous NPs. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.