Effect of various Polymers on Drug Release from Mucoadhesive Tablets of Cefixime Trihydrate

Cefixime trihydrate (CT) is a third-generation cephalosporin antibiotic and is used in the management of various infections caused by Gram +ve as well as Gram − ve bacteria. It has a plasma half-life of 3-4 h. It has poor oral bioavailability due to hepatic first pass metabolism. Hence, an attempt was made to develop CT mucoadhesive tablets for buccal delivery to avoid first-pass metabolism and improved oral delivery. CT mucoadhesive tablets developed using HPMC K4M, Na-CMC, guar gum and chitosan as rate controlling polymers and mucoadhesive agent, respectively and compressed by direct compression method. The prepared CT mucoadhesive tablets were evaluated for hardness, weight variation, thickness, friability, drug content uniformity, assay, mucoadhesive strength and in vitro release. From the results, all the evaluated parameters were within the pharmacopoeial limits. The in-vitro dissolution studies indicated that the CTmucoadhesive tablets formulation (F2) showed 99.7±1.4 % of drug release after 8 h and chose as the optimized formulation. The kinetic models suggest that the drug release follows Higuchi’s kinetics and tablets drug release was controlled by a diffusion mechanism.