Untitled

Abstract

Diltiazem hydrochloride is a calcium channel blocker used in various cardiac diseases. It is associated with problem of short biological half life leading to high dosage frequency. Therefore, to ensure the controlled drug delivery systems of diltiazem the alginate-chitosan microspheres were prepared by Ionotropic gelation technique and characterized. The diltiazem hydrochloride SR microspheres were successfully formulated by Ionotropic gelation technique employing different proportions of sodium alginate, hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) K15M and carbopol 934 in various combinations. The prepared diltiazem hydrochloride microspheres were characterized for entrapment efficiency, swelling index, Carr's index, angle of repose, particle size, assay and in-vitro drug release. Further, the final optimized formulations were assessed for their compatibility studies using Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy and stability was assessed by conducting accelerated stability studies. All the diltiazem hydrochloride microsphere formulations were found have good flow properties. The mean particle size was found to be within a range of 6.1-to 9.2 μm and entrapment efficiency ranged from 70% to 94.6%. In-vitro drug release was found to be 96% for the optimized formulation. FTIR studies were carried out and all the excipients are found to be compatible with no interactions. Stability studies were carried out for the best formulation F5 indicates that there is no change in entrapment efficiency and release kinetics. The results obtained in this work clearly indicate best results using carbopol 934 a rate controlling polymer in diltiazem hydrochloride SR microspheres.