Formulation Development and in vivo Characterization of Solubility Enhanced Gliclazide Tablets

The antidiabetic drug gliclazide has very poor aqueous solubility leading to variable bioavailabilities on oral administration thus posing problems in the design of controlled release tablets. Therefore, the aim of the study was to increase the solubility of the drug by making inclusion complex with hydroxypropylbetacyclodextrin in the ratio 1:2 and to incorporate the solubility enhanced drug in matrix forming polymer like sodiumcarboxymethylcellulose for designing oral controlled release tablets. The AUC₀-₂₄ and AUC₀-_α obtained from the standardized solubility enhanced gliclazide tablets were 1.98 and 2.09 folds greater than that of the tablets containing plain gliclazide respectively (P<0.05) during the in vivo studies conducted on Newzealand rabbits.