What is the primary purpose of incorporating water-miscible organic solvents like ethanol as excipients?
Answer
To create a mixed solvent system that better accommodates sparingly soluble drugs.
Co-solvents, such as ethanol or propylene glycol, are utilized when a drug exhibits poor solubility exclusively in water. These organic solvents are fully miscible with water, meaning they can mix seamlessly. When added to an aqueous formulation, they create a mixed solvent system where the polarity of the solvent blend is altered. This altered polarity often provides a chemical environment that is more accommodating or intermediate between pure water and pure lipid, allowing the otherwise sparingly soluble drug molecule to partition into the mixture more readily than it could in pure water alone.
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