Abstract

DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF ORAL CONTROLLED RELEASE MATRIX TABLETS OF AMBROXOL HYDROCHLORIDE BY USING NATURAL GUMS

P. Sravanthi*, T.E.G.K. Murthy and Nampelly Karnakar

ABSTRACT

The main objective of present work is to develop the matrix tablets of Ambroxol hydrochloride by using various hydrophilic natural gums such as Tara gum, locust bean gum, by wet granulation method. Ambroxol HCl (AM) is an expectorant drug, promoting bronchial secretion and having mucolytic properties. Ambroxol HCI is a metabolite of bromhexine. Compared with the first- and second-generation expectorant drugs, it has much more powerful expectorant function and lower toxicity, and is one of most clinically-used expectorant drugs. To reduce the side effects and maintain relatively constant plasma concentration, a sustained release tablet of once daily administration was designed. Tablets were prepared by wet granulation method. The prepared tablets were further evaluated for uniformity of weight, hardness, friability, thickness, content uniformity, In-vitro dissolution, drug-excipients interactions also carried out. The FT-IR studies revealed that there was no chemical interaction between drug and excipients. Among different formulations, F-3 and F-6 exhibited precise controlled release of drug over a prolonged period of 12 hrs. The in- vitro dissolution data obtained for various formulations were fitted into zero order, first order, Higuchi’s and Peppas kinetic models. The majority of designed formulations displayed zero order release kinetics and Korsmeyer and Peppas equation give release pattern with values of (n = 0.5-1) indicating non-fickian or Anomalous types of diffusion takes place through matrix. The result demonstrates the feasibility of natural gums in the development of oral matrix tablets for controlled delivery of ambroxol hydrochloride.

Keywords: Ambroxol hydrochloride, Tara gum, Locust bean gum, Swelling studies Matrix tablets.