Formulation and Physicochemical Characterization of Buccal Mucoadhesive Films Containing Alfuzocin Hydrochloride

Abstract

The buccal region of oral cavity is a interesting target for the drug of choice administration. To increase prevent first pass metabolism and bioavailability, Alfuzocin Hydrochloride is embedded in buccal film for a sustained release over a period of 8 hours. The purpose of this study was to develop formulations and systematically evaluate in vitro performances of buccoadhesive films of Alfuzocin hydrochloride using the polymers HPMC K100M, Sodium Alginate and Chitosan. The films were provided with a backing layer of Eudragit RS100 so as to get an unidirectional release pattern. The films were evaluated for their physical characteristics like weight, thickness, content uniformity, folding endurance, bioadhesive strength, surface pH, in vitro drug release, ex vivo buccal permeation and XRD studies. The films, which were prepared by the solvent casting method, were smooth and elegant in appearance; uniform in thickness, weight, and drug content; and showed good folding endurance. The mechanical properties reveal that the formulations were found to be strong but not brittle. The in vitro release data were fit to different equations and kinetic models viz.  zero order, first order, higuchi’s plot and peppas plot. The best mucoadhesive performance and matrix controlled release was exhibited by the formulation A7 (2% HPMC K100 M and 2% Chitosan). The correlation coefficient value (r) indicates, the kinetic of drug release was zero order. Stability study of optimized films was done and it was found that both drug and buccal films were stable. It can be concluded that the present buccal formulation can be an ideal system to improve the bioavailability of the drug by avoiding hepatic first-pass metabolism.