Abstract
Background:
This study was conducted to investigate the effects of HPMC (K4M and K100M) as well
as tragacanth on the drug release rate of diltiazem (DLTZ) from matrix tablets prepared
by direct compression method.
Methods:
Mechanism of drug transport through the matrices was studied by fitting the release
data to the 10 kinetic models. 3 model independent parameters; i. e., mean dissolution
time (MDT), mean release rate (MRR) and release rate efficacy (RE) as well as 5 time
point approaches were established to compare the dissolution profiles. To find correlation
between fraction of drug released and polymer’s molecular weight, dissolution data
were fitted into two proposed equations.
Results:
All polymers could sustain drug release up to 10 h. The release data were fitted best
to Peppas and Higuchi square root kinetic models considering squared correlation coefficient
and mean percent error (MPE). RE and MRR were decreased when polymer to drug ratio
was increased. Conversely, t60% was increased with raising polymer /drug ratio. The fractions of drug released from
the formulations prepared with tragacanth were more than those formulated using the
same amount of HPMC K4M and HPMC K100M.
Conclusion:
Preparation of DLTZ matrices applying HPMCK4M, HPMC K100M and tragacanth could effectively
extend the drug release.
Key words
diltiazem - matrix tablets - sustained-release - HPMC - tragacanth - kinetic models