{"title":"A novel levodopa-carbidopa three-layer gastroretentive tablet for improving levodopa pharmacokinetics.","authors":"Xiangcheng Zhao, Peng Yan, Hailong Zhang, Wenhu Zhou, Jinsong Ding","doi":"10.1016/j.ejpb.2025.114633","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The narrow absorption window of levodopa and the significant impact of peripheral decarboxylase are the most limiting factors in maintaining prolonged and smooth plasma concentration in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Therefore, this study aims to design a novel gastroretentive carbidopa-levodopa three-layer tablet, which consists of an expansion layer, an immediate-release layer, and a sustained-release layer. The expansion layer rapidly expanded with sufficient structural strength and stayed in the beagle's stomach for more than 10 h, delineating excellent gastric retention effects. The immediate-release layer quickly released the drug and the sustained-release layer maintained a stable drug concentration. Importantly, pharmacokinetic data obtained under fed conditions demonstrated that the duration of efficacy of the three-layer tablets was significantly superior to that of the commercially available product Sinemet® CR, with effective levodopa blood levels remaining for up to 12 h. This is expected to offer more convenient clinical medication options for patients with PD.</p>","PeriodicalId":12024,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics","volume":" ","pages":"114633"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpb.2025.114633","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The narrow absorption window of levodopa and the significant impact of peripheral decarboxylase are the most limiting factors in maintaining prolonged and smooth plasma concentration in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Therefore, this study aims to design a novel gastroretentive carbidopa-levodopa three-layer tablet, which consists of an expansion layer, an immediate-release layer, and a sustained-release layer. The expansion layer rapidly expanded with sufficient structural strength and stayed in the beagle's stomach for more than 10 h, delineating excellent gastric retention effects. The immediate-release layer quickly released the drug and the sustained-release layer maintained a stable drug concentration. Importantly, pharmacokinetic data obtained under fed conditions demonstrated that the duration of efficacy of the three-layer tablets was significantly superior to that of the commercially available product Sinemet® CR, with effective levodopa blood levels remaining for up to 12 h. This is expected to offer more convenient clinical medication options for patients with PD.
期刊介绍:
The European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics provides a medium for the publication of novel, innovative and hypothesis-driven research from the areas of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics.
Topics covered include for example:
Design and development of drug delivery systems for pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals (small molecules, proteins, nucleic acids)
Aspects of manufacturing process design
Biomedical aspects of drug product design
Strategies and formulations for controlled drug transport across biological barriers
Physicochemical aspects of drug product development
Novel excipients for drug product design
Drug delivery and controlled release systems for systemic and local applications
Nanomaterials for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes
Advanced therapy medicinal products
Medical devices supporting a distinct pharmacological effect.