FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF GASTRO-RETENTIVE FLOATING TABLETS OF AMLODIPINE BESYLATE USING NATURAL POLYMERS

The present study sought to formulate and test gastro-retentive floating matrix tablets of the Amlodipine Besylate (AB) to increase its gastrointestinal retention time to enhance bioavailability of the drug and assure prolonged delivery of drugs in the treatment of hypertension. Natural polymers, guar gum, xanthan gum, and a combination of the two were used to develop floating tablets as a control group, semi-synthetic hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC K4M). Preparation of the tablets was done using the direct compression method and pre-compression parameters, buoyancies, in vitro drug release, and release kinetics were assessed. The F-X (optimized formula), which is a particular blend of natural gums, displayed great buoyancy and a short lag time and long total floating time (over 12 hours). It gave it a sustained, controlled drug release with 12 hours of the release profile that was similar to the release profile of the HPMC-based formulation. Diffusion-controlled drug release mechanism was determined because the data were best predicted by the Higuchi model and Korsmeyer-Peppas equation. To sum it up, the study manages to demonstrate that natural polymers such as guar gum and xanthan gum can be used as good alternatives to synthetic polymers to design gastro-retentive floating drug delivery system of Amlodipine Besylate and provide an excellent opportunity to deliver the drug once a day.