Solubilization and in Vitro Physical and Chemical Properties of the Amorphous Spray-Dried Lactose-Luteolin System

Luteolin is a hydrophobic drug with low solubility, which has many limitations in practical use. To improve solubility, a spray drying technique was used to prepare complexes with lactose to promote the solubility and bioavailability of luteolin. The solution samples were spray dried using different ratios of water and ethanol as different dissolution media. By characterizing the spray-dried powders obtained, we found that the solubility of the different groups of samples obtained by spray drying was improved, and similarly, their dissolution rates were also increased to different degrees. By comparison, both luteolin and the cofactor lactose were able to achieve high dissolution rates at suitable solution ratios and formed amorphous eutectic crystals after the spray drying process, which contributed well to the increased solubility and altered dissolution efficiency of luteolin.