A brief look at sixteen years of research on cyclodextrin inclusions at the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology of Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Medical University, Hungary

beta-cyclodextrin has become official in the USP XXIII [1], it is included in the Merck Index [2], and the preview of hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin is also known to exist. These facts all represent the results of an enthusi astic international R&D activity which began about twenty-five years ago [3 ]. The aim of this paper is to present the cyclodextrin-related R&D activit y at the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology of the Albert Szent-Gyorgy i Medical University in Hungary. Systematic research on cyclodextrins start ed in 1982. For the past sixteen years, the authors have investigated repre sentative pharmacons belonging to different pharmacological groups, and hav e established new scientific data, phenomena and laws relating to the inclu sion complex formation between cyclodextrins and drugs. The bioavailability of cyclodextrin-entrapped drugs was also investigated using standard in vi tro test methods in accordance with pharmacopoeial requirements. The presen t manuscript intends to summarize the results of this type of work.