Formulation and In-vitro Evaluation of floating tablets of antibiotics used in the treatment of peptic ulcer

The treatment of peptic ulcer disease involves multi drug regimen which causes patient discomfort. Roxithromycin and Esomeprazole are successful agents used in the treatment of peptic ulcer disease, but are available as separate unit dosages. Roxithromycin has broad spectrum of antibacterial activity and previous literature shows it inhibits H. Pylori. Esomeprazole is unstable in acidic pH but a valued proton pump inhibitor. Therefore, a humble effort was made in this investigation, to formulate a tablet dosage form containing both these drugs. Core tablets containing esomeprazole and a floating type coat formulation containing Roxithromycin, compressed into a single unit were developed and prepared. A buoyant tablet where made to float over the surface of the gastric fluids and thereby increasing the gastric retention time (GRT) of the drugs like Roxithromycin, thereby increased bioavailability and hence therapeutic efficacy is might improve. Also, it was planned to evaluate such tablets for their various pre-compression and compression characteristics, in vitro drug release kinetics and stability of the dosage forms. The present study outlines a systematic approach for designing and development of Esomeprazole and Roxithromycin floating tablets to enhance the bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy of the drug in the peptic ulcer disease.