FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF RANITIDINE FLOATING MATRIX TABLETS

Abstract

In the present research work an attempt was made to prepare ranitidine hydrochloride floating matrix tablets, in which the drug is classified as Histamine H2 –receptor antagonist. Most of the floating systems have inherent drawbacks of high variability in the gastro intestinal transit time, invariably affecting the bioavailability of drug. To overcome this, a multiple unit floating system with extended GI transit time and capable of distributing widely throughout the gastrointestinal tract for effective enteric release of the drug has sought. Matrix loaded tablets with drug and polymer were prepared by wet granulation method. The drug and polymers (HPMC, Guar gum) of floating matrix tablets were prepared and formulated. The flow ability of resulting granules improved when compared to that of the pure drug. The formulations were evaluated for percentage drug release, floating behavior, FTIR, and the drug release kinetics. The enhanced floatability of the formulations and their retention in GIT may attribute for the increased bioavailability and decrease in frequency of administration. Of all the three polymers used it was observed that HPMC is a suitable candidate for sustained release of the drug from that of the floating matrix tablets. Among the five formulations prepared with HPMC, formulation F5 (drug: polymer 1:1) has been found to be an optimized one with 99.6% drug release and good buoyancy. At the end of 12th hr the drug release. Drug release follows Korsmeyer-Peppas kinetics indicated a good linearity with R2 value 0.982 and diffusion exponent values (n) of all ranitidine floating tablets were found to be 0.68-0.71 which indicates anomalous nonfickian diffusion i.e., the rate of solvent penetration and drug release are in the same range.