Intragastric floating drug delivery system of cefuroxime axetil: in vitro evaluation

This investigation describes the development of an intragastric drug-delivery system for cefuroxime axetil. The 3(2) full factorial design was employed to evaluate contribution of hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) K4M/HPMC K100 LV ratio (polymer blend) and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) on drug release from HPMC matrices. Tablets were prepared using direct compression technique. Formulations were evaluated for in vitro buoyancy and drug release study using United States Pharmacopeia (USP) 24 paddle-type dissolution apparatus using 0.1N HCl as a dissolution medium. Multiple regression analysis was performed for factorial design batches to evaluate the response. All formulations had floating lag times below 2 minutes and constantly floated on dissolution medium for more than 8 hours. It was found that polymer blend and SLS significantly affect the time required for 50% of drug release, percentage drug release at 12 hours, release rate constant, and diffusion exponent (P <.05). Also linear relationships were obtained between the amount of HPMC K100 LV and diffusion exponent as well as release rate constant. Kinetic treatment to dissolution profiles revealed drug release ranges from anomalous transport to case 1 transport, which was mainly dependent on both the independent variables.