Abstract

Gastric Floating Microspheres of Ranitidine Hydrochloride: Formulation and In Vitro Evaluation

Author(s): Rakesh Pahwa, Vipin Kumar and Kanchan Kohli

The present study involves the preparation of ranitidine hydrochloride loaded floating microspheres in order to prolong the gastric retention time. The microspheres were prepared by the solvent evaporation method using ethyl cellulose as polymeric material and a mixture of ethanol and dichloromethane (1:1) as solvent system. The prepared microspheres were evaluated for flow properties based on parameters such as angle of repose, Hausner’s ratio and Carr’s index. The effect of processing and formulation variables such as stirring speed and drug-to-polymer ratio on the mean particle size, percentage yield, entrapment efficiency and in vitro buoyancy profile were also studied. The mean particle size increased at higher polymeric concentration. Findings also indicated that prepared floating microspheres exhibit excellent buoyancies in simulated gastric fluid