Evaluation of solvent effects on physical characteristics of 5-Fluorouracil Nanoparticles prepared by Supercritical Carbon dioxide

It is an important mission of the pharmaceutical industry to design and produce effective, stable, uniform and safe dosage forms that contain exact quantities and qualities of active pharmaceutical ingredients [1]. Recently, micro- and nano-particle formation processes based on the use of supercritical fluids as solvents or antisolvents for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) have been introduced as a viable means of controlling particle formation to improve physicochemical properties in solid state [2]. The pharmaceutical applications of supercritical fluid technology enable to modify the solid state properties of APIs, such as characteristics of particles (size, shape, surface, crystal structure and morphology), crystallinity and polymorphism affecting their dissolution rate and bioavailability [3,4].This study describes the application of supercritical antisolvent for processing of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) as one of the most commonly used drugs to treat cancer. It has accrued a long clinical history as both a palliative and therapeutic treatment modality for a variety of carcinomas