Abstract

Quetiapine fumarate is an atypical antipsychotic drug to treat schizophrenia. It has poor oral bioavailability (9 %) owing to its extensive first-pass metabolism. In the present study, quetiapine nanoemulsion were formulated for brain targeting through the intranasal route. Ultrasonication method was employed for nanoemulsion preparation by employing water, Tween 20 and propylene glycol as the surfactant mixture (surfactant and co-surfactant mixture) and isopropyl myristate as oil. Rat models were used to examine the concentration of quetiapine in the brain and blood (plasma) following oral, intranasal and free medication administration. When compared to the intranasal-free drug and the oral route, intranasal nanoemulsion of quetiapine led to noticeably greater drug levels in the brain. The results showed that intranasal nanoemulsion, as opposed to intranasally or orally delivered free drug had a longer half-life in the brain. Hence, using intranasal quetiapine nanoemulsion to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may be a novel way to handle this illness.