Taste Masked Microspheres of Ofloxacin: Formulation and Evaluation of Orodispersible Tablets

Ofloxacin is a synthetic chemotherapeutic antibiotic used for treatment of a variety of bacterial infections, but therapy suffers from low patients' compliance due to its unpleasant taste. This study was aimed to develop taste masked microspheres of ofloxacin using Eudragit and to prepare orodispersible tablets of the formulated microspheres using natural superdisintegrant. Taste masking Eudragit E100 microspheres were prepared by solvent evaporation technique with an entrapment efficiency ranging from 69.54 ± 1.98 to 86.52 ± 2.25%. DSC revealed no interaction between the drug and polymer. Microspheres prepared at a drug/polymer ratio of 1:4 and 1:5 revealed sufficient flow properties and better taste masking as compared to other ratios. Drug loaded microspheres were formulated as orodispersible tablets using locust bean gum as a natural superdisintegrant offering the advatages of biocompatibility and biodegrad-ability. The wetting time, water absorption ratio and in-vitro disintegration time of the tablets were found to range between 19 ± 2 to 10 ± 3 seconds, 59.11 ± 0.65 to 85.76 ± 0.96 and 22 ± 2 to 10 ± 2 seconds, respectively. The in-vitro ofloxacin release was about 97.25% within 2h. The results obtained from the study suggested the use of eudragit polymer for preparing ofloxacin loaded microspheres with an aim to mask the bitter taste of the drug and furthermore orodispersible tablets could be formulated using locust bean gum as a natural superdisintegrant.