DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF FLOATING TABLETS OF CIPROFLOXACIN HCL - OBJECTIVES

 

OBJECTIVES

            The goal of any drug delivery system is to provide a therapeutic amount of drug to the proper site in the body to achieve promptly and then maintain the desired drug concentration. The most convenient and commonly employed route of drug delivery has historically been by oral ingestion.

 

            Drugs that are easily absorbed from the GIT and having a short half-life are eliminated quickly from the blood circulation. To avoid these problems oral controlled drug delivery systems have been developed as they releases the drug slowly into the GIT and maintain a constant drug concentration in the serum for longer period of time.²⁴

                                

            However, incomplete release of the drug and a shorter residence time of dosage forms in the upper gastrointestinal tract, a prominent site for absorption of many drugs, will lead to lower bioavailability. Efforts to improve oral drug bioavailability have grown in parallel with the pharmaceutical industry. As the number and chemical diversity of drugs has increased, new strategies are required to develop orally active therapeutics. Thus, gastro retentive dosage forms, which prolong the residence time of the drugs in the stomach and improve their bioavailability, have been developed.²⁵

 

            The objective of the research work is to formulate and evaluate the floating tablets of  ciprofloxacin HCL as a model drug by using polymer (HPMC K 4M, Carbopol 934 P, sodium alginate) and  gas generating agent sodium bi-carbonate by wet granulation method to achieve better therapeutic success compared to conventional dosage form of the same drug. 

It has some advantages like,

1. Reduced dosing frequency.
2. Better patient compliance and convenience.
3. Less fluctuating plasma drug level

 

PLAN OF WORK

            The aim of this work was to develop and evaluate floating tablets of Ciprofloxacin HCL by wet granulation method.

1. To develop the floating tablets of Ciprofloxacin HCL by using HPMC (K4M),  Carbapol 934 P and sodium alginate as polymers.
2. To characterize the prepared floating tablets by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy.
3. To evaluate micrometric properties (bulk density, tapped density, hardness, friability, weight variation, content uniformity, compressibility index, hausners ratio and angle of repose) in vitro buoyancy, in vitro drug release study.
4. To carry out the stability studies.
5. To define release mechanism by curve fitting analysis.