ABSTRACT
The objective of the study is to evaluate guar gum as a carrier in the design of oral controlled drug delivery systems. Drugs with varying solubility such as diltiazem HC1 [freely soluble], theophylline [slightly soluble] and glipizide [practically insoluble] were chosen as model drugs. Matrix tablets of diltiazem HC1, theophylline and glipizide using different proportions of guar gum were prepared and subjected to in vitro drug release studies. When the cumulative amount of drug released at different time intervals was plotted, all the guar gum matrix formulations provided controlled drug delivery comparable with the respective commercial sustained release tablets. The results indicated that guar gum is a potential carrier in the design of oral controlled drug delivery systems