FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF CLOPIDOGREL BISULPHATE TRANSDERMAL PATCHES USING VEGETABLE OILS AS PERMEATION ENHANCER

OrallyClopidogrel bisulphate has a short elimination half-life (7-8 hrs.), low oral bioavailability (50%) undergoes extensive first pass metabolism (85%) and frequent high doses (75 mg) are required to maintain the therapeutic level as a result, dose development toxic effect. The purpose of this research work was formulation and evaluation of transdermal drug delivery system of Clopidogrel bisulphate using vegetable oils as permeation enhancer by using solvent evaporation technique for improvement of bioavailability of drug and reducing toxic effects. Matrix transdermal patches were prepared by using hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) and ethyl cellulose (EC) polymers by incorporating glycerine and dibutylphthalate as plasticizers, respectively. Prepared formulations were evaluated for different physicochemical characteristics like thickness, folding endurance, drug content, percentage moisture absorption, percentage moisture loss weight uniformity, etc.,. All the patches were uniform with respect to physicochemical evaluation. The in vitro drug release studies indicated that HPMC containing films have shown better release than that of EC containing films without any permeation enhancers. The result of diffusion study shows that formulation C7 showed maximum release of 88.7% in 24 h, whereas C2 showed minimum release of in 38.6% in 24h. The various permeation parameters were determined for all the formulations. The maximum flux was obtained with C7 formulation. All the films were found to be stable with respect to their physical parameters and drug content.