Chitosan and Hydroxy Propyl Methyl Cellulose as a Carrier for Aceclofenac for Prolonged Release

Numerous natural polymers either alone or in combination with other polymers were found effective in controlling the drug release. In this study the attempts were made to combine chitosan (degree of deacetylation 84.14 %) and as hydroxylpropyl methylcellulose (HPMC K 15M) to retard the release of aceclofenac in tablet formulation. The tablets were prepared by wet granulation and evaluated for pre and post- compression parameters. All the pre-compression parameters were found within the limit. Hardness and friability values were found in the range of 4.30-4.89 kg/cm2 and 0.1-0.6% respectively. These results proved the good mechanical strength of the formulations. The drug content was found in the range of 97.56 – 99.10 %. Weight variation was found within the official limit. The percent drug release and swelling index was found to be dependent on the concentration of polymer. With increasing the concentration of both the polymers the swelling index was increased and drug release decrease. Highest concentration of both the polymers was found to retard the drug release up to 8 h. The effect of Chitosan and HPMC on drug release was evaluated by design expert software to achieve the optimized formulation. The response of the drug release after 4h was considered to check the drug release. It was found that the enhanced concentration of both the polymers had negative effective on the drug release. The formulation containing highest concentration of the chitosan and HPMC was found be fit in the limits of optimized formulations. The optimized formulation was found to be stable at accelerated stability storage conditions.