Design and study of formulation variables affecting drug loading and its release from Alginate beads

ISSN:0975-1459 The development of alginate beads as a drug carrier system is considered to be more attractive because of its biocompatibility, mucoadhesive property, and its ability to deliver drug particularly in the intestinal pH. The preparation of alginate beads by ionic gelation method avoids the usage of toxic organic solvents and considered to be relatively economical method. However its development is mainly hindered by two major limitations i.e., poor drug loading due to drug leaching during preparation and rapid release of drug from the system in the intestinal pH. This study was mainly focused on the development of alginate beads by ionic gelation method with a special emphasis taken in order to minimize the limitations of alginate beads. The concentration of sodium alginate was kept at the minimum level (2% w/v), required for the formation of beads and the effect of addition of guar gum and poly (vinyl alcohol) (0.5% w/v), respectively to the sodium alginate solution, and the addition of poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (2%w/v) to the CaCl2 solution on the drug loading and in-vitro release characteristics was studied. The results shown that the addition of guar gum, poly (vinyl alcohol) and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) significantly improved drug loading and release characteristics, and the better drug loading and release characteristics were obtained with the formulation containing 0.5% poly(vinyl alcohol) and 2% poly(vinyl pyrrolidone).