Oral drug delivery remains the preferred route for administration of various drugs. Recent developments in the technology have prompted scientists to develop orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs) with improved patient compliance and convenience. ODTs are solid unit dosage forms, which disintegrate or dissolve rapidly in the mouth without chewing and water. Orally disintegrating tablets provide an advantage particularly for pediatric and geriatric populations who have difficulty in swallowing conventional tablets and capsules. This review describes the various formulation aspects, disintegrants employed and technologies developed for ODTs, along with various excipients, evaluation tests, marketed formulations, and drugs explored in this field.

Topical application of drugs to the eye is most popular and well-accepted route of administration for the treatment of various eye disorders. A variety of ocular dosage form and drug delivery systems, including a controlled release of the drug, drug targeting, and penetration enhancement of the drug, have been investigated. Polymers have been widely used as the drug carrier for controlled-release systems. Polymers release the drug as they themselves degrade and are sometimes finally absorbed within the body. In this article, several ocular drug delivery systems have discussed using different kinds of polymers and their acceptance over conventional.

The present work is to formulate effective hand rub disinfectant by selecting broad-spectrum antimicrobial and antifungal agents. Increased need of easy-to-use hand rub disinfectant in pharmaceutical, food processing industry, hospitals, and in clinical labs necessitated development of the best possible product. Formulations were prepared using Benzalkonium chloride, chlorhexidine gluconate as potent disinfectants along with alcohol 70%. In low concentration they were highly effective without leaving any toxic effect on the user's skin. A synergistic effect was observed when ethyl alcohol 70% was used in combination. Suitable emollient and skin conditioning agents were used to avoid possible dehydrating effect on the user's skin. Excellent volatility of the preparation was observed after use, leaving a thin antimicrobial film on the user's hand. The use of suitable excipient brought effective removal of after the use leaving a soothening effect on the skin. The aim of present work is to develop hand rub formulation which evaporates quickly after applications leaving no trace on hands as in case of hand rub gels. The present formulation was found to be effective when compared with marketed liquid hand rub.

This work describes a melt granulation technique to improve the dissolution characteristics of a poorly water-soluble drug, oxcarbazepine. Melt granulation technique is a process by which pharmaceutical powders are efficiently agglomerated by a meltable binder. The advantage of this technique compared to conventional granulation is that no water or organic solvents are needed. Because there is no drying step, the process is less time consuming and uses less energy than wet granulation. In particular, the granules containing oxcarbazepine were prepared using polyethylene glycol (PEG) 4000 as a melting binder and lactose monohydrate as a hydrophilic filler. The potential of the intragranular addition of starch as a dissolution enhancer and a disintegrative agent was also evaluated. After analysis of their solid state was performed by means of x-ray powder diffraction (XRD), the granules were characterized from technological and dissolution point of view. The subsequent step comprised of the preparation and evaluation of the tablets, including the effect of the extragranular introduction of starch. Besides the remarkable enhancement of drug dissolution rate of the granulates in comparison to physical mixtures and pure drug, no significant differences were found between the dissolution profiles of the granulates containing lactose or starch. However, the difficult disintegration and bad dissolution performance of the tablets not containing intragranular starch so it is necessary to add disintegrant in the granulating mixture. Moreover, the extragranular addition of a small amount of starch gave rise to further amelioration of the disintegration and dissolution performances.

Coating is one of the effective method used for sustaining the release of dosage form. There are various hydrophilic and hydrophilic polymers which are use to sustain the drug release. Waxes are one of the material which can be use to coat the drug in order to control the release. Coating with waxes can be achieved by dissolving it in suitable solvent or by hot melt wax coating. Hot melt coating technique defined as the application of fine layer of coating material in molten state over the substrate. Hot melt coating technique is widely used to coat granules, pellets and tablets in order to sustained the drug release, mask the bitter taste of drug, improve stability etc. Hot melt wax coatings have various advantages over wax solution coating. Toxicity of the organic solvent residues and the influence of environmental protection are major problems associated with solvent coating. The main goal of this study was to study the effect of different coating technique i.e. pan spray method and pan pour method on release pattern of theophylline and also to study the effect of different pore former like sodium laurel sulphate (SLS) and hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) on release pattern. It was found that pan spray technique is the best technique to control the release due to uniform film formation, while pan pour method showed variation in release of drug from same batch this was due to non uniform coating of tablets and very low coating efficiency. If we compare the effect of pore former it was found that release of drug can be controlled by using suitable concentration of pore former while faster release was seen when SLS was used as a pore former in lower concentration than HPMC.

The objective of this research was to improve solubility, dissolution, and, consequently, bioavailability of mefenamic acid, a poorly water-soluble nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, by complexation with β -Cyclodextrin and HP-β -Cyclodextrin. The complexes of mefenamic acid with β -Cyclodextrin and HP-β -Cyclodextrin were prepared by kneading method and were characterized and evaluated to study the effect of complexation on dissolution profiles and in vivo advantage. The complexes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry studies. Phase solubility studies indicated complex formation with possible stoichiometry of 1:1 and a stability constant of 176 M ^-1 for β -Cyclodextrin and 103.8 M ^-1 for HP-β -Cyclodextrin. The characterization studies confirmed the inclusion of mefenamic acid within the nonpolar cavity of β -Cyclodextrin and of HP-β -Cyclodextrin. Remarkable improvement was observed in the in vitro drug release profiles in 0.1-N HCl and pH-6.8 phosphate buffer with all complexes. Mefenamic acid also showed improvement in the in vivo activity when administered orally to rats as compared with mefenamic acid per se.

Transdermal drug delivery system has seen a veritable explosion in the past decades. In the present scenario, very few transdermal patches are commercially available. The captopril being an antihypertensive drug requires chronic administration. Since the drug has an extensive first-pass metabolism, an attempt was made to develop transdermal drug delivery system for better patient compliance. In this study, flux and permeation enhancement trials of captopril were carried out using modified Franz diffusion cells through siloxane membrane for 8 h. Citral and dimethyl formamide as permeation enhancers showed the best permeability as compared to sodium tauroglycholate, sodium lauryl sulfate, etc. One longstanding approach for improving transdermal drug delivery uses penetration enhancers (also called sorption promoters or accelerants), which penetrate into skin to reversibly decrease the barrier resistance.

The effect of HPMC on solubility and dissolution of carbamazepine form III (CBZ) was investigated in 50% w/w of CBZ form III in HPMC solid dispersion and physical mixture. Powdered samples of CBZ form III, physical mixture, and solid dispersion were characterized for thermal behavior (DSC), crystallinity (PXRD), and compatibility (FT-IR). Solubility and dissolution studies were carried out in different simulated gastrointestinal fluids and de-ionized water. Solubility studies in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) revealed that acidic pH favors formation of CBZ dihydrate. Triton X 100 in blank fast-state simulated gastric fluid (FaSSGF) prevents the formation of CBZ dihydrate in acidic pH. A maximum solubility of 268.77 µg/mL was achieved with fed-state simulated intestinal fluid (FeSSIF). Correlation between solubility and pH could not be established. Both solubility and dissolution studies revealed that HPMC had a profound effect of enhancement of solubility and dissolution of CBZ form III in both physical mixtures and solid dispersions. HPMC prevents the formation of CBZ dihydrate and thereby improves the solubility and dissolution. This was further correlated with results obtained from DSC and XRD. There was no drastic difference in solubility and dissolution of CBZ form III with different media. It was observed that there was no existing relationship between solubility and dissolution of CBZ form III in different media.

Matrix-type transdermal drug delivery systems of haloperidol lactate were prepared using different ratios of ethyl cellulose (EC):polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) (3:2, 2:3, 4:1, 1:2, 2:1, and 1:4) by solvent-evaporation technique. Physicochemical parameters were characterized, and dissolution studies of the formulated films were performed. In addition, solubility studies at various values of pH were carried out, and partition coefficient in octanol/water system, flux, and enhancement ratio were also evaluated. In vitro permeation studies were done using modified Franz diffusion cells through human cadaver skin utilizing 20% PEG 400 in normal saline. Permeation studies illustrated that 4% hyaluronidase enzyme was a good enhancer. The prepared films were subjected to scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectral analysis. Higuchi and Peppas models were used for optimizing the formulation.

Films were prepared using 5 parts of 10% w/w of mucilage of gum of Moringa oleifera with different proportions of plasticizers: polyethylene glycol (PEG 400) (0.1, 0.15, 0.2, and 0.3), glycerin (0.15), and propylene glycol (0.2). The films were casted on glass plates and dried under controlled evaporation. Films prepared with 0.15, 0.2 part of PEG 400; 0.15 part of glycerin and propylene glycol showed satisfactory drying after 24 h. They were evaluated for following parameters water uptake, tensile strength, folding endurance, and water vapor transmission rate. The results obtained are comparable with films made from other polymers, and the gum can be used for preparing polymeric drug delivery systems and as film coating agent.

The purpose of the present investigation was to formulate and evaluate the terbinafine hydrochloride nail lacquer as preungual drug delivery system for the treatment of onychomycosis. Terbinafine hydrochloride was chosen as the model drug, and the formulations were prepared with and without polymer Eudargit RL 100 (Eu) within the concentration range of 1% to 5% (w/v) in the polymeric system. Then, these lacquers were compared for glossiness, film formation, drying rate, smoothness of flow, and nonvolatile content, The in vitro studies were preformed on the artificial membrane and bovine hooves in solvent A (phosphate buffer, pH 7.4; and methanol, AR grade, in the ratio of 4:1). The result obtained indicated that the nail lacquer formulation F2 (1.3% of the drug and 1.3% of Eudargit RL100) showed good release of the drug. Thus nail lacquers can be used as a successful tool for targeted drug delivery for onychomycosis.

Itraconazole is practically insoluble in water; large interindividual and intraindividual variations of its oral bioavailability are reported. A mucoadhesive drug delivery system is useful to prolong the retention time of a dosage form in the stomach, thereby improving the oral bioavailability of the drug. Solid dispersion of itraconazole with Eudragit E100 was prepared by spray-drying method to improve dissolution. Trilayered mucoadhesive tablet was prepared, with inner core containing solid dispersion of the drug and with carbopol and HPMC sandwiched between two layers of hydrophilic mucoadhesive polymer mixture of carbopol and Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC). Amounts of Carbopol 934P (CP) and Methocel K4M (HPMC) were varied in the outer coat around the solid dispersion. The drug-release pattern for all the formulation combinations was found to be nonfickian, approaching zero-order kinetics. Suitable combination of two polymers provided adequate bioadhesive strength and sustained-release profile with zero-order kinetics.

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to develop a novel crystallo-co-agglomeration (CCA) method for ketoprofen to obtain its directly compressible spherical agglomerates with improved flowability and compressibility. Methodology: Dichloromethane-water system containing polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) 100 Centi Poise was used as the crystallization system. Ketoprofen was crystallized from dichloromethane and agglomerated with talc. Experimental parameters (concentration of PEG, PVA, and HPMC; effect of temperature; and agitation speed) were optimized. The agglomerates were evaluated for micrometric properties, mechanical properties, moisture content, compressibility, packability, and drug-release properties. The agglomerates were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Main Findings: Remarkable improvement in micromeritic properties (angle of repose <22°, percentage compressibility <10, and Hausner ratio near to 1) and compactibility (mean yield pressure 55-93 MPa) enabled direct compression without any defect. Results of friability showed higher surface strength of agglomerates containing higher amount of talc. DSC, PXRD, and IR results showed no change in the crystalline form of ketoprofen. Dissolution study of batches KA, KB, KC, and KD(composition given in [Table 1]) showed 90% drug release in 120, 180, 240, and 420 min respectively. Principal Conclusions: Crystallo-co-agglomeration process can be considered as a suitable alternative to conventional granulation process to obtain agglomerates of ketoprofen with improved micromeritic and compressibility parameters. The CCA technique can be used for the design of sustained-release ketoprofen talc agglomerates containing lower amounts of polymers.

In the present investigation, 2 M niacinamide (an inexpensive drug) solution was employed as hydrotropic solubilizing agent to solubilize poorly water-soluble drug hydrochlorothiazide for its spectrophotometric analysis. The proposed method is new, simple, environmentally friendly, accurate, and reproducible. Accuracy, reproducibility, and precision of the proposed method were validated statistically.

Fast-dissolving tablets (FDT) of promethazine theoclate were prepared by direct-compression method after incorporating superdisintegrants Ac-Di-Sol, Sodium Starch Glycolate (SSG), and Crospovidone in different concentrations. Nine formulations having superdisintegrants at different concentration levels were prepared to assess their efficiency and critical concentration level. Different types of evaluation parameters for tablets were used. Tablets containing Ac- Di- Sol showed superior organoleptic properties, along with excellent in vitro and in vivo dispersion time and drug release, as compared to other formulations.

Gliclazide is an oral hypoglycemic agent used in the treatment of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The drug is practically insoluble in water and exhibits an exceedingly slow intrinsic dissolution rate and poor bioavailability. The present study has emphasized on improving the solubility and dissolution rate of the drug by forming inclusion complex with β -cyclodextrin. Phase solubility studies indicated the formation of 1:2 M complex in solution. The value of apparent stability constant K _c was found to be 691.45 M ^-1 . The inclusion complexes were prepared by physical mixture and kneading method. Prepared complexes were characterized by infrared (IR) spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies, which indicated formation of 1:2 M complex. The gliclazide:β -CD (1:2 M) complex prepared by kneading method exhibited higher dissolution rate and dissolution efficiency values in 0.1-N HCl. A 20.31-fold increase in dissolution rate and 16.50-fold increase in dissolution efficiency values were observed in the kneading method.