DESIGN DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF FAST DISINTEGRATING TABLET OF GLIPIZIDE BY SOLID DISPERSION TECHNIQUE

Glipizide, a second-generation sulfonylurea, is extensively employed in the management of Type 2 diabetes mellitus due to its insulin secretagogue activity. However, its limited aqueous solubility, as classified under the Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS) Class II, results in dissolution rate-limited absorption and suboptimal oral bioavailability. The present investigation was aimed at enhancing the solubility and dissolution profile of Glipizide through the formulation of solid dispersions, followed by the development of fast-disintegrating tablets (FDTs) to improve therapeutic efficacy and patient compliance. Solid dispersions of Glipizide were prepared using sodium caprylate as a hydrophilic carrier in varying drug-to-carrier ratios (1:1 to 1:5) employing the solvent evaporation technique. The optimized ratio (1:3) was selected based on preliminary solubility enhancement studies. Fast-disintegrating tablets were subsequently formulated by direct compression utilizing superdisintegrants such as croscarmellose sodium, sodium starch glycolate, and locust bean gum at different concentrations. The prepared formulations were evaluated for micromeritic properties, tablet hardness, friability, content uniformity, disintegration time, and in vitro dissolution behavior. The results demonstrated that all formulations exhibited acceptable physicomechanical properties. Among them, formulation F6 containing 6.5 mg of locust bean gum exhibited superior performance, achieving rapid disintegration and 99.5% cumulative drug release within 30 minutes. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy confirmed the absence of significant drug–excipient interactions. The study concludes that the integration of solid dispersion technology with fast-disintegrating tablet formulation significantly enhances the dissolution characteristics of Glipizide, thereby potentially improving its bioavailability and clinical performance.