HYDROGEL BASED COLON TARGETED DELIVERY OF RABEPRAZOLE SODIUM

The aim of this research was to develop controlled and sustained release formulation of hydrogel beads containing rabeprazole sodium, and to study the effects of Eudragit S100 coating on the release of rabeprazole sodium. The main objective was to develop a colon targeted drug delivery system to minimize – drug release in the upper gastro intestinal (GI) tract as well as to minimize GI adverse effects associated with NSAIDs. Alginate hydrogel beads of rabeprazole sodium were formulated by ionotropic gelation technique and the variables studied. The prepared Eudragit S100 coated hydrogel gel beads of rabeprazole sodium were characterized by determining particle size, % drug entrapment efficiency, swelling index and in-vitro release study. The mean particle size was found to be increase with the increment in concentration of sodium alginate and decrease in the concentration of calcium chloride. The % drug entrapment efficiency of the prepared hydrogel beads formulations was found in the range of 67.45 ± 0.23 to 82.89 ± 0.64. Swelling time analysis revealed higher swelling time at pH 1.2 for the coated rabeprazole sodium hydrogel beads than at pH 7.4. With the increase in polymer and CaCl₂ concentration the coated hydrogel beads show slow in-vitro drug release rates in dissolution media of different pH particularly in pH 1.2 (0.1N HCl). The results clearly demonstrate that Eudragit S100 coated hydrogel beads of rabeprazole sodium prepared by ionotropic gelation technique could be successfully used as a prospective carrier for sustained drug delivery and preventing GI side effects.