Abstract

FLOATING DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS: A REVIEW

Suripeddi Muralidhar*, Taneeru Venkata Narayana, Gindi Sumalatha, Ramya K. and Midde Baby Ratnam

ABSTRACT

To address physiological adversities such as short gastric residence time and variable gastric emptying times, recent technical and scientific research has been devoted to the creation of rate controlled drug delivery systems. Floating drug delivery systems (FDDS) have a lower bulk density than gastric fluids, therefore they float in the stomach for longer periods of time without altering the gastric emptying rate. The medicine is released slowly and at a controlled pace from the system while it is floating on the stomach contents. The residual system in the stomach is emptied once the medicine is released. As a consequence, the Gastric Residence Time (GRT) is enhanced, and variations in plasma drug concentration are better controlled. The system must have enough structure to create a cohesive gel barrier and disintegrate slowly enough to act as a drug reservoir while maintaining an overall specific gravity lower than that of stomach contents. The development of FDDS has used two unique technologies, namely non-effervescent and effervescent systems, based on the principle of buoyancy.

Keywords: Rate controlled drug delivery, Floating drug delivery, Gastric residence time.