Chitosan/HPMC polymer blends for developing transdermal drug delivery systems

Chitosan and hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) blends in different compositions viz., 100/0, 80/20, 60/40, 40/60, 20/80 and 0/100 by wt/wt ratio have been prepared with and without the incorporation of propranalol HCl by the solvent casting method. The films were casted using 1% glacial acetic acid and glycerine as the solvent and plasticizer, respectively. Distilled water was used as a solvent for the drug. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength and percentage elongation at break and optical properties of chitosan/HPMC have been reported. The drug diffusion behavior of chitosan/HPMC drug films in buffer solution (pH 7.4) has been established by open glass diffusion cell at 371 degrees C. The diffusion rate of drug from the polymer blends was determined by UV/Visible spectroscopy. It may be concluded that a chitosan/HPMC blend could be a promising approach for formulating a transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) as they have good film forming property.