FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF SUSTAINED RELEASE MUCOADHESIVE BUCCAL FILMS OF VALSARTAN USING NATURAL MUCOADHESIVE POLYMERS
A. Prameela Rani and B. Radha Madhavi*
Abstract
Valsartan is an Angiotensin II receptor antagonist used in the treatment
of hypertension. The conventional formulations available were
considered to be low in efficacy, primarily on account of their failure
in providing and maintaining effective therapeutic drug levels. As the
drug undergoes high hepatic first pass metabolism it shows low
bioavailability. Hence, this study aims to focus on development of a
mucoadhesive buccal delivery system with an objective of offering a
prolonged delivery coupled with enhanced therapeutic efficacy, patient
compliance and the bioavailability. Mucoadhesive films of valsartan
were prepared by solvent-casting method using novel and natural
mucoadhesive polymers jack fruit gum and tamarind gum along with
other polymers. Prepared films were evaluated for their weight, thickness, surface pH,
swelling index, drug content uniformity, in vitro residence time, folding endurance in vitro
release and permeation studies. The formulation V16 containing mucoadhesive polymer
jackfruit gum was selected as sustained release mucoadhesive films of Valsartan as this
formulation retards the release rate up to 8hrs and at the end of 8 hrs the release rate was
found to be highest (i.e., 97.91%). Formulation V16 showed good swelling, mucoadhesive
strength, a convenient residence time and promising extended drug release, which can be
selected for the development of buccal film for effective therapeutic use. The data observed
from this study highlight the feasibility of the buccal route as a viable option for delivery of
this antihypertensive drug valsartan.
Keywords: Buccal film, Valsartan, jackfruit gum, tamarind gum, ex vivo studies.
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