© 2018 International Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow 83 Development and investigation of novel solid self‑nanoemulsifying system loaded with hydrochlorothiazide for the treatment of hypertension Akhilesh Dubey, Amitha Shetty 1 , G. S. Ravi, Manan Christian Kiritkumar 1 , Prabhakara Prabhu 1 , Srinivas Hebbar, Sally A. El‑Zahaby 2 Department of Pharmaceutcs, NGSM Insttute of Pharmaceutcal Sciences, Nite (Deemed to be University), 1 Department of Pharmaceutcs, Shree Devi College of Pharmacy, Mangalore, Karnataka, India, 2 Department of Pharmaceutcs and Pharmaceutcal Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Drug Manufacturing, Pharos University in Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt INTRODUCTION Delivering drugs via oral route represents the most widely and convenient route being the easiest in administration, the most compliant for the patient, in addition to, the possibility to design many dosage forms. Moreover, it is the most economical, especially that, it is characterized by the least sterility constraints. However, the major challenge with the formulation of oral dosage forms lies with their poor oral bioavailability. Various factors such as poor aqueous solubility, lower drug permeability, Objective: The present study was aimed at formulating and evaluating a novel solid self-nano emulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) to increase the solubility and bioavailability of hydrochlorothiazide (HCZ). Enhancing both solubility and bioavailability of drugs remain the cornerstone for achieving successful outcomes of delivery systems. Furthermore, employing nanotechnology-based formulations such as SNEDDS offers important advantage; the most important is the protection of the drug from enzymatic or chemical degradation. Materials and Methods: Liquid SNEDDS (L-SNEDDS) was prepared by adding a drug to oil, surfactant, and co-surfactant and heated up to at 60°C under continuous stirring. Solid SNEDDS (S-SNEDDS) was prepared by mixing L-SNEDDS with microcrystalline cellulose in 1:1 proportion. Results: The scanning electron microscopy showed that S-SNEDDS was spherical with an average particle size of 66.9 nm and 69.2 nm for both L-SNEDDS and S-SNEDDS, respectively. Ex vivo skin permeation study indicated that 100% drug was released from both the L-SNEDDS and S-SNEDDS formulation SF3 in 3 h. Analysis of variance test showed significant differences (Moderately significant P < 0.01) in the values when compared to a marketed product. Conclusion: The prepared S-SNEDDS helped in improving the solubility of the poorly soluble HCZ, which is a step forward toward bioavailability enhancement and thus increased therapeutic efficacy of the drug. Keywords: Ex vivo, hydrochlorothiazide, self-nanoemulsifying system, solubility, surfactant Address for correspondence: Dr. Akhilesh Dubey, Department of Pharmaceutcs, NGSM Insttute of Pharmaceutcal Sciences, Nite (Deemed to be University), Mangalore ‑ 575 018, Karnataka, India. E‑mail: akhilesh@nite.edu.in How to cite this article: Dubey A, Shetty A, Ravi GS, Kiritkumar MC, Prabhu P, Hebbar S, et al. Development and investigation of novel solid self- nanoemulsifying system loaded with hydrochlorothiazide for the treatment of hypertension. Int J Pharma Investig 2018;8:83-91. This is an open access journal, and artcles are distributed under the terms of the Creatve Commons Atributon‑NonCommercial‑ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non‑commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creatons are licensed under the identcal terms. For reprints contact: reprints@medknow.com Access this article online Quick Response Code: Website: www.jpionline.org DOI: 10.4103/jphi.JPHI_29_18 Original Research Article Abstract