European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

FORMULATING COLON SPECIFIC DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR METRONIDAZOLE USING PROBIOTICS AS MEDIATORS OF COLONIC TARGETING

Divya Bhardwaj* and Pradeep Chauhan

ABSTRACT

Matrix tablets of metronidazole were prepared using chitosan as the polymer and Rhamno G in varying quantity as the probiotic to assist the targeted release of the drug in the colonic microflora. The tablets were prepared using wet granulation method and were evaluated for precompression and post compression parameters. The angle of repose was found to be in the range of 25°71’ to 27°41’. The bulk density value ranged from 0.42 to 0.46 g/cm3 while the tapped density value ranged from 0.48 to 0.52 g/cm3. The granules prepared in the present work were found to have the Carr’s Index between 15.68 to 11.53 % and the Hausner’s ratio was found to be ranging from 1.186 to 1.130. The thickness of all the tablets was found to be 7.2-7.4 mm while the hardness was 6 kg/cm2. The friability of all the formulations was less than 1% while the weight variation was 1.1 to 1.5 %. The drug content ranged from 97.9 to 98.7 % in the formulations. The tablet formulations were investigated for the in vitro drug release in absence and presence of rat caecal content and it was found that the release of drug from the tablets was affected by the presence of probiotic. The rat caecal content was able to increase the drug release from all the formulation.

Keywords: Metronidazole, colonic delivery, probiotic, microflora, gastrointestinal tract, tablet.