Objective: Buccal drug delivery is the most suited route for local as well as systemic delivery of drugs. Cilnidipine is an L/N type dihydropyridine 4th generation calcium channel blocker (CCB), which decreases hypertension by blocking the N-type calcium channel to attenuate vascular sympathetic neurotransmission. It has high first-pass metabolism leading to low bioavailability. Hence the present research work was undertaken to formulate mucoadhesive buccal film of Cilnidipine with an objective to enhance therapeutic efficacy, bioavailability and was developed to administer into the unconscious and less-co-operative patients. Methods: Cilnidipine buccal films were prepared by a solvent-casting technique using various concentrations of mucoadhesive-polymers such as Hydroxyl propyl methylcellulose (HPMC) E15 and K4M and ethyl-cellulose as backing-layer, which acts like a patch providing unidirectional drug release. Prepared films were evaluated for their weight variation, thickness, surface-pH, swelling-index, drug content uniformity, in vitro residence time, folding endurance, tensile strength, in vitro release and permeability studies. Results: The infra-red (IR) spectra showed no interaction, and Physico-chemical characteristics were found within the limit. Swelling of the film increases with increasing concentration of polymers and %drug content of all formulations found to be in the range of 92.13%±0.94% to 97.92%±0.35%. The formulation F5, showed a promising tensile strength, folding endurance and in vitro drug release of about 95.18±0.03%, thus can be selected as an optimized formulation of mucoadhesive buccal film. Conclusion: The formulation of Cilnidipine mucoadhesive buccal film was found to be satisfactory and reasonable.

Buccal drug delivery especially refers to the delivery of drugs through the buccal mucosal membrane lining of the oral cavity. For geriatric and pediatric patients who undergo difficulties in swallowing conventional oral solid dosage forms, the buccal film is a better alternative. The buccal film is appropriate for the drugs which experience high first-pass metabolism and is used for enhancing bioavailability with reducing dosing frequency to mouth plasma peak levels, which thus limit side-effects and make it cost-effective. It enhances the efficacy of API in the oral cavity after the contact with less saliva as contrasted to tablets, without chewing and no need for water for administration. This review briefly describes the advantages and limitations of buccal film, an anatomical structure of oral mucosa, highlighting the mechanisms of drug permeation, formulation technologies, methodology in evaluating buccal film, and recent advances of the buccal film as a tool for drug delivery for various treatments.