¹Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment, Health Directorate of Al-Najaf, Al-Najaf, Iraq
²Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Baghdad University, Baghdad, Iraq DOI : 10.29228/jrp.2022.00 Isradipine is the drug of choice for oral therapy of severe hypertension and urgent hypertension crises in pediatrics. It belongs to the Biopharmaceutics classification system (BCS) class II. Its oral bioavailability will be approximately 15 to 24%. This study aims to prepare a stable, low-toxic, eco-friendly, surfactant-free oral oil-in-water emulsion of Isradipine for pediatric patients and enhance dosing accuracy. Isradipine surfactants–free emulsions (SFE) were prepared to protect it from hydrolysis, oxidation, photosensitivity, increasing its solubility and absorption, thereby improving its bioavailability. The study used corn and grape oil to prepare SFE for solubilizing Isradipine. The SFE was stabilized by different concentrations of Chitosan. Eight formulas were prepared using a homogenizer and mixed for 5 minutes at 10,000 rpm and 25ºC. The SFE formulas were evaluated and among all the prepared SFE formulas, F4 containing Chitosan 1% and 15g of Corn oil was chosen as the optimum SFE formula due to its small particle size range of 1451±0.01 nm, respectable pH, good organoleptic attributes, excellent thermodynamic stability, acceptable viscosity 1869.5±1.54 mg/ml, acceptable drug content percentage, and highest dissolution rate. F4 was further tested for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The study found that SFE provided an important pediatric dosage form for the oral waterinsoluble drug. Keywords : Pickering emulsion; surfactant free emulsion (SFE); chitosan; corn