Solubility enhancement and controlled release of anti-viral drug ribavirin via modified β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex nanofibers: experimental and molecular docking studies

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Materials Technology

Abstract

Polymer-free electrospun nanofibers (NFs) offer promising potential for oral drug delivery due to their controlled release capabilities. This study developed ribavirin (RVN)/cyclodextrin (CD) inclusion complexes (ICs) using β-cyclodextrin (BCD), hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrin (HCD), and methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MCD) as both host molecules and electrospinning matrices. UV and fluorescence spectroscopy confirmed 1:1 RVN:CD complexation, with solubility constants of 108.6, 188.3, and 660.1 M−1 for BCD, HCD, and MCD, respectively. Molecular docking indicated strong binding of RVN triazole moiety within CDs cavities. FT-IR and XRD analyses confirmed molecular interactions and amorphous NFs structures. SEM showed bead-free morphologies with decreasing diameters from BCD:RVN to MCD:RVN (390 ± 80 to 200 ± 65 nm). The thermal stability improved in all IC-based NFs. In vitro studies revealed rapid drug release, with MCD:RVN achieving 93 ± 3.21% release in 10 min, outperforming BCD:RVN (65 ± 3,2%) and HCD:RVN (85 ± 2,3%). These findings support CDs-based polymer-free NFs as effective carriers for oral drug delivery.

DOI

10.1080/10667857.2025.2560838

Publication Date

9-17-2025

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