Formulation and Characterization of Ofloxacin Microspheres Prepared By Ionotropic Gelation Technique

The main aim of the present study was to formulate ofloxacin microspheres by Ionotropic gelation technique using various polymers such as carbopol grades 934 and 940, sodium carboxy methyl cellulose (SCMC) and sodium alginate. Where 10% calcium chloride is used as a cross linking agent to form a discrete microspheres with sodium alginate. The prepared ofloxacin microspheres were evaluated for its Particle size and shape analysis, flow properties, micromeritic properties, drug entrapment efficiency, drug content, in vitro drug release studies. The prepared microsphere were bulky, free flowing, spherical and showed an drug entrapment ranging between 60 – 80% and had a mean particle size ranging from 120 – 380 μm as determined by the optical microscopy and SEM analysis. The in vitro release of the drug from the polymer coated microspheres had shown controlled and sustained drug delivery more than 12 h. The in vitro release data were fit to different equations and kinetic models to explain release profiles. The kinetic models used were zero order, higuchi's and peppa's. The correlation coefficient value (r) indicates that the kinetic of drug release was zero to first order and the mechanism of drug release follows super case II transport. Based upon the evaluation parameters results the formulation F3 showed the best controlled release than the other formulations.