Buccoadhesive Drug Delivery System of Isosorbide Dinitrate: Formulation and Evaluation

Buccoadhesive buccal delivery systems for isosorbide dinitrate in the form of unidirectional buccal films were developed and characterized for improving bioavailability. The films were formulated by solvent casting method using different bioadhesive polymers like Carbopol 934P and polyvinyl pyrrolidone by using two different plasticizers propylene glycol and diethyl phthalate. Unidirectional release was achieved by preparing composite films with backing membrane. The films were characterized on the basis of their physical characteristics, bioadhesive performance, and other parameters. In vitro studies revealed that release rate of isosorbide dinitrate was higher from carbopol films containing ratio of Eudragit RL100 and polyvinyl pyrrolidine in proportion of 1:2 and 2:1, respectively by using both plasticizers. Drug diffusion from buccal films showed apparently zero order kinetics and release mechanism was diffusion controlled after considerable swelling. All the films exhibited sufficient in vitro bioadhesion strength. Promising formulations were further studied for temperature dependent stability studies. Results of our preliminary experiments indicate that, therapeutic level of isosorbide dinitrate can be achieved using this buccaladhesive formulation.