Dharmarajsinh Chauhan, Axay Patel, Shrenik Shah
The objective of the present study was to develop and evaluate colon specific matrices of mebeverine HCl using various polysaccharides like guar gum, Locust bean gum and xanthan gum by direct compression method. The matrix tablets were evaluated for their physico-chemical properties, swelling study, in-vitro release study and stability studies. The prepared tablets were found to be uniform with respect to thickness (5.53 to 6.03 mm) and hardness (5.7 to 6.9 kg/cm2). The friability (0.41 to 0.95 %) and weight variation (1.04-1.66%) of different batch of tablets were found within prescribed limits. Drug content (96.01 to 99.89 %) was found uniform within the batches of different tablets. Swelling studies indicated that, matrix tablets prepared with XG (X4) swelled more as compared to those prepared using GG and LBG. Release profiles indicated that, increase in the polymer concentration has drastically retarded the release of Mebeverine Hcl. The optimized tablets prepared using GG (G4), LG (L4) & XG (X4) showed controlled release over periods of 24 hrs, whereas the marketed product controlled the drug release over a period of 12 hrs. The mechanism of drug release was Non-Fickian diffusion controlled first order kinetics for optimized matrix tablets of GG (G4) and LBG (L4) where as for XG (X4) it followed Highuchi model. The developed matrix tablets can be viewed as a better approach in the colonic delivery of Mebeverine HCl.
