Abstract

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF NITROFURANTOIN SUSTAINED RELEASE CAPSULE

Aparna Debnath, Md. Giash Uddin, Saadullah, Mohammad Sarowar Uddin, Md. Saddam Hussain and Mohammad Safiqul Islam*

ABSTRACT

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is a serious medical issue liable for influencing a great many individuals. Nitrofurantoin is a medication of decision for UTIs. Sustained release drug delivery system offers a progression of favorable circumstances. The purpose of the study to develop, optimize and appraise sustained release capsules of nitrofurantoin using polymer such as Methocel K4 Premium and different excipients by wet granulation technique. The evaluation involved physical properties studies (weight variation, drug content uniformity) of capsules and in vitro release kinetics assessment. The USP Type 1 dissolution apparatus was selected to perform the dissolution test and 900 ml phosphate buffer of pH 7.2 at 100 rpm was used as dissolution medium at temperature of 37 °C. The release kinetics was analyzed using zero-order, first order, Higuchi’s equations, Hixon-Crowell equation and Krosmeyer-Peppas equation. Noteworthy differences were found among the drug release profile from different level of polymeric matrix. The release kinetics was found governed by the content of polymers in the matrix system. Higher polymeric content in the matrix decrease the release rate of drug, because of increased tortuousity and decreased porosity. All formulations followed Krosmeyer-Peppas kinetics. When the release data was plotted into Krosmeyer-Peppas equation, then it was confirmed that F-1, F-3, F-4 and F-5 exhibited fickian type drug release whereas F2 and F6 exhibited non-fickian type drug release from the matrix granules of the capsule. In-vitro release studies revealed that the formulation F-2 and F-6 can be taken as an ideal or optimized formulation for sustained release capsule.

Keywords: Sustained release; capsule; nitrofurantoin; Methocel K4 Premium, In-vitro study.