A multiple unit floating drug delivery system based on gas formation technique was developed, in order to prolong the gastric residence time& to increase the overall bioavailability of the dosage form. Pioglitazone is a thiazolidinedione antidiabetic agent that depends on the presence of insulin for its mechanism of action .The drug is having short biological half life (3 to 7 hrs); hence it is suitable for formulating floating microcapsules. Floating microcapsules of pioglitazone were prepared by orifice ionic gelation technique by dispersing the drug together with sodium carbonate in an aqueous solution of sodium alginate and then dripping the dispersion into an acidified solution of calcium chloride. The CO2 developed from the reaction of carbonate salts with acid, caused the desired buoyancy to float beads on the dissolution fluids. In the present work, the effect of concentration of sodium alginate,CaCl2,acetic acid & sodium carbonate, volume of curing solution and curing time on drug entrapment efficiency & in vitro release of pioglitazone was studied with a view to develop floating microcapsules for pioglitazone. Formulated microcapsules were evaluated for floating lag time, total floating time, % drug entrapped and in-vitro drug release. The drug entrapment efficiencies were in the range of 44-95.7%. The microcapsules formulated using 35 % w/v sodium alginate, 1.5% v/v acetic acid, 500 mg sodium carbonate, 50 ml of 10% w/v calcium chloride with curing time 60 min yielded the drug release up to 10 hrs and showed entrapment efficiency up to 93%.
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