Development of natural gum based glipizide mucoadhesive microsphere.

The objective of this study was to develop glipizide microsphere with natural gums. Guar gum and xanthan gum were used separately in different ratios as natural polymers. The microspheres were prepared by orifice ionic gelation method and they were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and particle size analysis. Among six formulations, microspheres of four formulations (F1-F4) were discrete, sphrerical and free flowing. There was an inverse relationship found between the amount of gum and surface smoothness in case of guar gum-containing microspheres while a forward relationship was found between amount of gum and surface smoothness in case of the microspheres containing xanthan gum. The size of the particles increased with increasing amounts of gum. It can be concluded that guar gum and natural gum at a ratio of 1:0.25 and 1:0.5 can be ideal for formulating natural gum based glipizide mucoadhesive microsphere.

Enhancement of oral bioavailability and solid dispersion: A review.

Improving oral bioavailability of drugs those given as solid dosage forms remains a challenge for the formulation scientists due to solubility problems. Most of the newly invented chemical entities are poorly water soluble. As a result formulating them as oral solid dosage forms is a hurdle to the specialists. Many techniques have been exercised to improve oral bioavailability of drugs. Among several methods, solid dispersion has attracted attention of the researchers for previous 50 years. Different formulation strategies have been taken to prepare solid dispersions. It is evident that solid dispersions improve solubility of drug particles thus enhancing dissolution characteristics of drugs they increase the oral bioavailability. This review paper will focus on different aspects of solid dispersion preparation; their advantages, major challenges and preparation methods.

First step in the assessment of mechanical properties of pure API: production of tablet with minimum addition of excipient.

There are a number of challenges during tablet dosage form development like excipient selection, poor powder flow, poor tableting, lack of hardness, high friability, elevated disintegration time, low dissolution rate etc. Most of them are significantly influenced by the mechanical properties (like elasticity, plasticity, brittleness, powder compressibility, tensile strength, etc.) of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). Assessment of these properties of the pure actives is not always easy. Absence of lubrication may induce a lot of friction, causing capping, lamination or sticking or in many cases, combination of them, damaging the test tablet when taken out. Different approaches were studied to overcome this problem and a solution was found by compaction of a tablet of Sodium Starch Glycolate-Magnesium Stearate in a ratio of 2.75:1 before compressing each tablet of pure API.