Design and development of microparticulate drug delivery system of Glimepiride for controlled release

Objective

The objective of the present investigation was to develop Glimepiride loaded cellulose acetate controlled release micro particulates.

Methods

The Glimepiride micro particles were prepared by emulsion solvent evaporation method. The effects of different parameters on the drug content and on the release of the drug from the micro particulates were investigated. Micro particulates were characterized in terms of encapsulation efficiency, particle size, drug loading, FTIR, DSC, SEM analysis and drug release studies.

Results

An increase in core:coat ratio from 1:1 to 1:3 caused an increase in the encapsulation efficiency and average particle size. FTIR and DSC studies exhibited there is no interaction between drug and excipients. The SEM studies clearly showed that the micro particles exhibited good spherical nature. The in vitro release of Glimepiride from micro particles in phosphate buffer of pH 7.8 was found to be dependent on molecular weight and copolymer type. The release kinetics of Glimepiride from optimized formulation followed zero order and peppas mechanism. The release exponent showed that the values of ‘n’ were between 0.95 and 1.07 indicating that the release from micro particulates was predominantly by non-fickian transport mechanism. The dissolution profiles of optimized formulation before and after stability studies were evaluated as per ICH guidelines.

Conclusion

The results demonstrate the feasibility of the model in the development of extended release dosage form.