DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF MICROBEADS OF SIMVASTATIN LOADED WITH SODIUM ALGINATE AND ALOE VERA

Simvastatin, a lipid-lowering agent, belongs class-II drug of BCS. It has a short biological half-life (3hr), and high first-pass metabolism. The target of the present study was to prepare the microbeads of Simvastatin to provide control release of the drug with enhanced bioavailability through sustained release. The method adopted to prepare Simvastatin loaded microbeads was by the ionic gelation method using a mixture of natural polymers like sodium alginate and aloe vera (1:1). Different crosslinking agents like BaCl₂, FeCl₃, ZnCl₂ and CaCl₂ formulated microbeads. The microbeads were spherical, free-flowing with uniformity in drug content and high drug encapsulation efficiency. The swelling and drug release behavior correlate with the crosslinking agent used to prepare microbeads. The FTIR analysis of the drug, polymers, and the optimized formulation confirmed the compatibility of the drug with the polymers. The DSC studies indicated no interaction between the drug and polymer in the microbeads. Formulation FB-1 showed the extended drug release of more than 6 hours. The novelty of a recent study assures that the swelling and In-vitro release behavior of Simvastatin loaded sodium alginate and aloe Vera microbeads crosslinked by FeCl3 can be considered as a promising control release drug delivery system which will be a part of a novel drug delivery system.