Abstract

FORMULATION DEVELOPMENT AND IN-VITRO EVALUATION OF BILAYER TABLET OF ANTI-PSYCHOTIC DRUG WITH CHRONOPHARMACOKINETIC ASPECTS

Shivangi Mishra, Shikha Shingh, Nishi Prakash Jain* and RB Goswami

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Abstract

Depression is a common illness worldwide, with more than 264 million people affected. Depression is different from usual mood fluctuations and short-lived emotional responses to challenges in everyday life. Venlafaxine is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor and is widely used in the treatment of depression. Venlafaxine has better tolerability than tricyclic antidepressants. Depression is strongly associated with circadian rhythm. Hence, the present investigation was concluded with an attempt to design and optimize a bi-layer tablet of Venlafaxine HCl to combat drug concentration fluctuation by circadian rhythm. The present research aimed to prepare a bi- layer tablet using a direct compression method using polymers HPMC K-4 and HPMC K- 15. An instant release layer and matrix tablet were prepared and from the results of the evaluation, a bi- layer tablet was prepared. Further development of bilayer tablet was made by using a combination of both the polymers. All final formulations were evaluated for physical appearance, flow properties, hardness, friability, weight variation, drug content, thickness, and in-vitro drug release. Release kinetics of optimized formulation (F6) was studied and results suggested that formulation shows significant improvement over a conventional tablet. The study concluded that Venlafaxine HCl bi-layer tablet can effectively combat drug fluctuations due to circadian rhythm and can be very effective in the treatment of depression.

Keywords: Bi-layer tablet, Depression, circadian rhythm, Venlafaxine HCl, HPMC K-4, HPMC K-15 & in-vitro drug release.