Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Development and Evaluation of Floating Microspheres of Curcumin

Kapil Kumar¹ , A K Rai²

¹Institute of Pharmacy NIMS University, Jaipur, 303121, Rajasthan, Global Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Kashipur, U.K; ²Pranveer Singh Institute of Technology, Kanpur, U.P., India.

For correspondence:- Kapil Kumar Email: kapil5november@gmail.com Tel:+919997722274

Received: 9 December 2011 Accepted: 3 August 2012 Published: 18 October 2012

Citation: Kumar K, Rai AK. Development and Evaluation of Floating Microspheres of Curcumin. Trop J Pharm Res 2012; 11(5):713-719 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v11i5.3

© 2012 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To prepare and evaluate floating microspheres of curcumin for prolonged gastric residence time and increased drug bioavailability.

Methods: Floating microsphere were prepared by emulsion solvent diffusion method, using hydroxylpropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), ethyl cellulose (EC), Eudragit S 100 polymer in varying ratios. Ethanol/dichloromethane blend was used as solvent in a ratio of 1:1. The floating microspheres were evaluated for flow properties, particle size, incorporation efficiency, as well as in-vitro floatability and drug release. The shape and surface morphology of the microspheres were characterised by optical and scanning electron microscopy.

Result: The floating microspheres showed particle size, buoyancy, drug entrapment efficiency and yield in the ranges of 251 - 387 µm, 74.6 - 90.6 %, and 72.6 - 83.5 %, and 45.5 - 82.0 %, respectively. Maximum drug release after 20 h was 47.1, 55.7, 69.4 and 81.3 % for formulations F1, F2, F3 and F4, respectively. Scanning electron micrographs indicate pores both on the surface and interior of the microspheres.

Conclusion: The developed curcumin microsphere system is a promising floating drug delivery system for oral sustained administration of curcumin.

Keywords: Gastro-retentive, Sustained release, Curcumin, Floating microspheres; Ethyl cellulose, Hydroxylpropyl methylcellulose, Eudragit