Effect of gelling conditions and mechanical treatment on drug availabilityfrom a lipogel

The study has been conducted to determine whether the rheological differenc es depending on gelling and treatment conditions could have an influence on drug availability. Lipogels with constant composition were obtained by gel ling olive oil with monodiglycerides at rest, under stirring, and milled af ter gelling. The considerable differences in rheological characteristics pr oduced significant differences on in vitro drug release tests, whereas a le sser influence was observed on in vitro simulated absorption test. The rheo logical differences appeared not to influence in vivo drug availability. Al so, rheological differences owing to the concentration of the gelling agent showed no significant influence on in vivo availability.