The detachment forces of various polymers are frequently measured to determine their mucoadhesion strength. As the process of mucoadhesion is a consequence of interactions between the mucus layer on mucosa and mucoadhesive polymers, it is greatly dependent on mucus and polymer structure including their charge. It is also known that the glycosaminoglycan layer, which covers the urinary bladder mucosa surface, is highly negatively charged. Therefore, by measuring the zeta potential of polymer dispersions and mucosal homogenates an insight into electrostatic interactions during mucoadhesion can be obtained. In our experiments we chose three polymers, two anionic (polycarbophil, PC; sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, CMCNa) and one cationic (chitosan hydrochloride, CH), for which we expected different zeta potential values and different mucoadhesion strengths. The correlation between the zeta potential and the detachment force was determined. In addition to that, the zeta potential of the scraped surface layer of pig urinary bladders was measured to confirm its negative value. The mucoadhesion strength decreased in the following order: CH>CMCNa=PC. The zeta potentials for all three polymers and for porcine vesical mucosal homogenates were measured in Tyrode solution and two NaCl solutions with different ionic strengths. The lower values of the detachment force correlated well with the more negative zeta potential of the polymer, which might be a consequence of the greater repulsion between negative charges of polymers and glycosaminoglycans.

Eudragit E microspheres containing bacampicillin hydrochloride were prepared by solvent evaporation and solvent extraction methods. Three different systems of solvents were used: methyl acetate, acetone and methanol/liquid paraffin. The success of the procedures depended mostly on the lipophilicity of the solvent. The particle size of microspheres was determined by sieve analysis. The results showed that the average size of microspheres is influenced greatly by the type of solvent. Scanning electron microscopy was used for observation of the shape of microspheres. Microspheres prepared by the solvent evaporation method in systems with acetone and methyl acetate were all of a regular spherical shape. The surface of all other microspheres were folded. The influence of magnesium stearate content in microspheres was also studied in terms of different methods, solvents and processing conditions.