The purpose of this study was to design a ‘Traveller Friendly Drug Delivery System’ for PM-HCl. Conventional promethazine (PM-HCl) tablets are bitter, need to be taken 1 h before symptoms and water is also needed. Taste-masked granules were produced with Eudragit® E100 by extrusion, and analyzed with FTIR, DSC, and XRD. Tablets formulated from granules by direct compression using Ac-Di-Sol, Polyplasdone®-XL, Primojel® and ion-exchanger Tulsion®339 and evaluated for mass uniformity, friability, tensile strength, drug content uniformity, water absorption ratio, in-vitro and in-vivo disintegration time and in-vitro dissolution studies. The observed drug-polymer interactions and reduced crystallinity may be reasons for increased dissolution rates. The formulated tablets were disintegrated within 15 s. Tablets (25 mg PM-HCl) with Ac-Di-Sol (4%) showed complete release within 1 min, while marketed conventional tablets (Phenergan®; Rhone-Poulec) release 25% during the same period. A preliminary stability studies for the prepared tablets carried at 30 ± 2°C/60 ± 5% RH, and 40 ± 2°C/75 ± 5%RH for 3 months showed no significant changes in the tablets quality at 30 ± 2°C/60 ± 5% RH. However, at 40 ± 2°C/75 ± 5%RH marked increase in in-vitro disintegration time, tensile strength and decrease in friability and water absorption ratio was found. The present studies indicate the abilities of Eudragit® E 100 for taste masking and improving the dissolution profile of PM-HCl after complexation. In addition, by employing cost effective direct compression method, fast-dissolving tablets of 400 mg total weight with an acceptable quality could be prepared.
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