PREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF SUSTAINED RELEASE TABLET OF EPERISONE HYDROCHLORIDE BY COMPRITOL ATO 888 AS A MATRIX FORMING AGENT.

Objective: The objective of this work was to prepare and evaluate oral sustained release matrix tablet of highly water soluble drug and to study the effect of proportion of wax and addition of release liner on in-vitro release of drug. Method: The matrix tablets were prepared by melt granulation method using drug:wax in 1:1, 1:2 & 1:3 proportions and evaluated for on in-vitro drug release. Then the proportion 1:1 was selected and wax matrix tablets were prepared by three techniques melt granulation, wet granulation and direct compression to check their in-vitro release profiles. Results: The study revealed that Compritol ATO 888 is potent sustained release polymer and released only 72.45% in 24 h even at 1:1 proportion. So, lactose was added as release liner in further study which helped in achieving complete release in 24 h. Conclusion: The present study has concluded that Compritol ATO 888 can be used as matrix-forming agent to control the release of a highly water soluble drug such as Eperisone HCl. It was also observed that melt granulation technique was found more effective. Release liner like lactose may help enhancing the release profile when it is marginally slow. Keywords: - Eperisone Hydrochloride, Compritol ATO 888, Sustained release, Melt granulation, Release line