ABSTRACT:
The purpose of this research was to develop and evaluate buccal mucoadhesive tablets of Carvedilol using dried mucilage powder of Aegle marmelose as primary mucoadhesive polymer and HPMC, NaCMC as secondary polymers. Carvedilol which undergoes extensive first pass metabolism were used as model drug. Effect of polymer type, proportion and combination was studied on the drug release rate, release mechanism and mucoadhesive strength of the prepared formulations. Buccal mucoadhesive tablets were prepared by direct compression and were characterized for content uniformity, weight variation, friability, surface pH, thickness and mechanism of drug release. Results indicated acceptable physical characteristics of designed tablets with good content uniformity and minimum weight variation. Drug release and mucoadhesive strength were found to depend upon polymer type and its proportion. The formulations prepared using dried mucilage of Aegle marmelose gave maximum mucoadhesion, and strength decreases with decrease in its content. The buccoadhesive tablets containing 1:1 ratio of mucilaginous powder and HPMC showed suitable release kinetics, and properties for adhesion to the buccal mucosal surface. The release data seem to fit better with Higuchi model indicating that drug release from the buccoadhesive tablet was diffusion controlled.