INFLUENCE OF FORMULATION VARIABLES ON THE IN VITRO DISSOLUTION OF GUM DAMAR BASED MATRIX TABLETS

The objective of the study was to examine the influence of two variables, concentration of the matrixing agent and diluent on the release of diclofenac sodium from hydrophobic matrix tablets. A 32 full factorial design was employed to optimize drug release profile. Concentration of the hydrophobic matrixing agent (X1) and type of diluent (X2) were taken as independent variables. The dependent variables selected were percentage drug release at 3h, 6h, 9h, time required for 50% drug release and zero order rate constant. Matrix tablets were evaluated for hardness, friability, weight variation and in vitro drug release. Polynomial equations and response surface plots were generated for all dependent variables. It was observed that all the factors had significant contribution on all dependent variables.