Effect of Coating Thickness and Polyethylene Glycol’s Molecular Weight on Diltiazem Hydrochloride Release from Controlled Porosity Osmotic Pump Tablets

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to design CPOP tablets to achieve controlled delivery of diltiazem hydrochloride (DH) up to 12 hours, which is a water-soluble calcium channel blocker with a short biological half-life. Two batches of osmotic tablet cores were prepared, containing DH with mannitol as an osmotic agent (1: 1.5 ratio). The tablet cores formulation with 10 mm diameter achieved the required technical and mechanical specifications. Direct compression technique was used to prepare the tablet cores which were evaluated in terms of mechanical resistance and uniformity of dosage units, followed by spray film coating using cellulose acetate as a former polymer of the semipermeable membrane and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a pore forming agent. Several molecular weights of PEG (6000, 1500 and 400) were used and coating thickness levels were obtained. In vitro drug release, morphology of coating surface and the effect of pH change on release rate were investigated. Most of the prepared formulations demonstrated a burst release at the initial stage, which could be controlled by increasing the coating thickness. Formulations with PEG400 as a pore former presented better controlled and less burst release than those containing PEG6000, PEG1500, or a mixture of PEG6000: PEG400 (1: 1), and the pH change did not affect the drug release except in the initial stage.