CODESTM drug delivery: Design and evaluation of metronidazole tablets

Abstract

Aim: The present study aimed to develop and demonstrate the study of combined effects of biodegradable polymer
coated with different pH-sensitive polymers in the formulation of Metronidazole tablets for colon targeted drug
delivery. Materials and Methods: Metronidazole Hydrochloride is cored with various proportions of biodegradable
polymers such as xanthan gum and chitosan. Then, the double-layered system was designed based on pH-sensitive
eudragit S100 and eudragit L100 as an inner layer and outer layer, respectively. To evaluate the in-vitro dissolution
profile of CODESTM tablets in gastrointestinal fluids, the test was performed using three consecutive media and
drug release kinetics are performed. The drug excipient interaction of CODESTM formulation was characterized
by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR). Results and Discussion: From the in-vitro drug release studies, F6 tablets
were considered as the optimized formulation, which retard the drug release in the stomach (pH 1.2) and small
intestine (pH 7.4) and progressively increase the release of 75.75% in the colon (pH 6.8) due to mucoadhesive
properties of chitosan. The FT-IR analysis shows that there is no interaction between drug and excipient. The drug
release kinetics followed supercase – II transport with erosion mechanism. Conclusion: Briefly to conclude that
CODESTM technology is a promising method for approach to deliver drug to colon due to the controlled release of
biodegradable polysaccharides and gastric resistance polymer.