Design and Development of Novel Dual-Compartment Capsule for Improved Gastroretention

The aim of the proposed research work was to develop a novel dual-compartment capsule (NDCC) with polymeric disc for gastroretentive dosage form, which will ultimately result in better solubility and bioavailability of Ofloxacin. Floating ring caps were formulated by using different natural polymers, separating ring band and swellable polymer located at the bottom of capsule. Formulated ring caps were assessed for coating thickness, In vitro buoyancy, In vitro drug release, release kinetics and stability studies. Coating attained by the capsule shell was found to be 0.0643？mm. Depending on nature of natural polymer used, most of the formulations showed buoyancy for more than 9 hrs. Developed formulation demonstrated considerably higher drug release up to 9 hrs. The developed formulation depicted the drug release according to Korsmeyer-Peppas model. There was not any significant change in performance characteristics of developed ring caps after subjecting them to stability studies. The present study suggests that the use of NDCC for oral delivery of Ofloxacin could be an alternative to improve its systemic availability which could be regulated by the floating approach. The designed dosage system can have futuristic applications over payloads which require stomach-specific delivery. 1. Introduction Although tremendous advances have been made in drug delivery, considering costs and patient compliance, the oral route still remains the preferred route of administration for therapeutic agents. The environment of gastrointestinal tract significantly varies from stomach to large intestine (Table 1) [1]. This variation could serve a promising platform for the site-specific drug delivery of therapeutics. Table 1: Salient features of GI tract. The presence of a dosage form in the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract is important especially for drugs that are degraded or metabolized in the intestine or for drugs with local activity in the stomach [2, 3]. Likewise Singh and Kim [4] suggested that floating drug delivery is of particular interest for drugs which (a) have local action in the stomach, (b) are primarily absorbed in the stomach, (c) have poor solubility at an alkaline pH, (d) have a narrow window of absorption, and (e) are unstable in the intestinal or colonic environment. Gastrointestinal retention depends on many factors such as density and size of the dosage form, the fasting or fed condition of the patient, and the nature of the meal as well as posture [5–7]. Several gastroretentive formulation approaches such as high density [8], swelling [9],