Buccoadhesive tablets for delivery of verapamil HCl: Design, in-vitro analysis and in-vivo evaluation

Abstract

Buccoadhesive controlled release verapamil HCl tablets have been prepared using mucoadhesive polymers namely; sodium alginate (Na Alg), xanthan gum (XG) and gum tragacanth (GT) either alone or in combination in different ratios 2:8, 8:2, 4:6 and 6:4. The prepared tablets were evaluated for their weight variation, thickness, hardness, friability and dissolution, content uniformity, swelling index, in-vitro adhesion, in-vitro drug release and in-vivo hypertension study. Tablets containing XG showed the highest swelling index and bioadhesive force. The maximum cumulative % released (100%) was observed in F7, F10 and F11 due to high percent of Na alg. The kinetics studies show that the release follows zero order kinetics except F1 that it obeyes a diffusion model. The buccoadhesive verapamil HCl tablet had suggested being promising for the transmucosal delivery of verapamil HCl and allowing a controlled drug delivery for 6 hrs.