SODIUM ALGINATE–LOCUST BEAN GUM IPN HYDROGEL BEADS FOR THE CONTROLLED DELIVERY OF NIMESULIDE-ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUG

Objective: The objective of this study was to formulate and evaluate the drug release studies using locust bean gum (LBG) and sodium alginate (NaAlg) and cross-linked with glutaraldehyde for the controlled release (CR) of nimesulide, an anti-inflammatory drug.Methods: Locust bean gum (LBG) and sodium alginate (NaAlg) blend hydrogel beads were prepared by an extrusion method using glutaraldehyde as a crosslinker. Nimesulide an anti-inflammatory drug was encapsulation within LBG/NaAlg blend hydrogel beads. Morphology, size, encapsulation efficiency and drug release from these hydrogel beads were evaluated by different characterization techniques such as fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (X-RD) studies.Results: Drug-loaded hydrogel beads were analyzed by FTIR, which indicates the interaction between drug and polymers. DSC thermograms on drug-loaded microbeads confirmed the polymorphism of nimesulide and indicated a molecular level dispersion of the drug in the hydrogel beads. SEM confirmed the spherical nature and rough surface of the hydrogel beads produced. X-RD study was performed to understand the crystalline nature of drug after encapsulated into the hydrogel beads and confirmed the complete dispersion of the drug in the polymer matrix. In vitro release studies conducted in pH-7.4 which indicated a dependence of release rate on the amount of drug loading and the amount of LBG/NaAlg, but slow release rates were extended up to 48 h. The cumulative release data were fitted to an empirical equation to compute diffusion exponent (n) which indicated the non-fickian trend for drug release.Conclusion: These results clearly demonstrated that the ability of these newly developed hydrogel beads containing nimesulide for its sustained release could possibly be advantageous to patient compliance with reduced dosing interval.