Formulation and Evaluation of Pulsincap of Tramadol HCl for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by painful joint swelling with stiffness at early morning so the patients should be and provided with the adequate dose of the drug at that particular time. It is not possible to give the drug to the patient everyday in the morning and therefore there is no patient compliance. Pulsincap drug delivery system of Tramadol HCL is better option for these patients and also to impart the novelty to the existing formulation. In this type of drug delivery system, delayed release of the drug is achieved by placing identical outer sections, called “plug” made up of HPMC K4M enclosing an active drug in the capsule of a non-disintegrating body and a soluble cap. For formulation of a Pulsincap system an empty hard gelatin capsule is used. In this empty hard gelatin capsule, a rate controlling plug is filled at the mouth and a tablet containing Tramadol HCL is kept inside. This system release drug after predetermine lag time. Hence it was thought of preparing pulsincap drug delivery system of Tramadol HCL which will release the drug after 7–8 h therefore there is better patient compliance.