K.Varun Kumar, P. Srikanth Choudary, B. Ajaykumar
The objective of present study was to develop floating beads of Domperidone (DOM) in order to increase its residence time in the stomach without contact with the mucosa, improve patient compliance and obtain improved therapeutic efficacy. They are prepared by extrusion congealing technique with pectin as a polymer. Floating beads were characterized by polymer compatibility by using FT-IR. The prepared beads were evaluated for particle size, surface morphology, buoyancy, actual drug content, entrapment efficiency and in vitro drug release. Nine formulations of DOM floating beads were formulated by using different percentage of both gas forming agent and pectin. Density of the formulated beads was found to be ranging between 0.101 and 0.182 g/cm3. The particle size was distributed between 0.6 to 1.6 mm. Buoyancy percentage was 71-87% and Drug entrapment efficiency was 54.4-64.48%. The micrometric properties were found to be good and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed their hollow structure with smooth surface. The content of drug release was done by UV spectrophotometer at 284 nm. In vitro drug release of DOM, for F2 is 81.10% and for F6 is 82.6%. And the beads formulated using 0.3w/w (F2) and 0.4% w/w (F6) of pectin was more uniform in shape and exhibited maximum buoyancy. The drug content of the formulated beads was found to be satisfactory by this method. It remains in the gastric region for several hours and hence prolongs the gastric residence time of drug. From the study it was concluded that the gastro retentive drug delivery system designed as floating beads could be suitable drug delivery system for DOM.
