The purpose of this research is to investigate different levels of hydrophilic natural gums such as xanthan gum, guar gum and their combination to prepare once a day sustained release matrix tablet of nateglinide. Natural gums have some special features like strong gel-forming property, non-toxicity, synergism and cost effectiveness [1]. Natural polymers also exhibit a rheological synergism when two polymers are mixed together. This phenomenon is called viscous synergism. This property of the natural polymers can be used to reduce the total polymer concentration of the tablet. Tablets were prepared using wet granulation technique. Prior to compression, the granules were evaluated for flow and compression characteristics. An attempt was made to reduce the total polymer concentration from the formulation by preparing blends (M7 –M11) each containing 10% less polymer concentration than previous one giving once a day formulation with least amount of polymer. Also, the matrix tablets showed good mechanical properties such as hardness and friability. The polymer and diluent content were found to have significant influence on In vitro drug release profile. Xanthan and guar gum blend showed the high release retarding efficiency than their individual formulations and reduced the total polymer concentration from the formulation.
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