PREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF CHITOSAN CAPSULE FOR COLON SPECIFIC DELIVERY OF CAPECITABINE

Abstract

The prime objective of the present study was to develop enteric coated chitosan capsule containing capecitabine for targeting colorectal cancer cells. The study describes a new colonic drug delivery system utilizing capsule shells prepared from chitosan. Coating of drug filled chitosan capsule with pH dependent enteric polymer like HPMC K4M / Cellulose acetate phthalate provides it a special feature of releasing drug at colonic pH. The complex formation between HPMC K4M, cellulose acetate phthalate and chitosan capsule gives extended release of drug over longer period. The disintegration time of the developed enteric coated capsule (Batch F2) was found to be 78±0.86 min and drug release was observed to be 97 % at the end of 9 h in pH 8.5 buffer solution simulating the colon fluid. All the prepared batches exhibited no release of drug in the first 3 h in simulated gastric fluid pH 1.2 and intestinal fluid pH 6.8. Thus, the enteric coated chitosan capsule proved to be efficient to deliver the drug at colon in colorectal cancer disease, which minimizes the side effects, of anticancer drug in stomach and upper intestine.