Shekhar B.Waikar

  The objective of this study was to formulate and evaluate gastroretentive effervescent floating  matrix  tablet of two anti-asthmatic drugs, Salbutamol sulphate and Theophylline which are often indicated for the management of asthma, their frequent dosing may reduce compliance, thus making a prolonged release formulation necessary. Tablets were prepared by wet granulation method using Hydroxy propyl methylcellulose (HPMC) as a release retardant agent and sodium bicarbonate and Citric acid as a gas-generating agents. The prepared granules showed satisfactory flow properties and compressibility. Formulations were evaluated for in vitro drug release profile and swelling characteristics. The similarity factor and dissolution kinetics were used as parameters for selection of the best batch. The result of formulation C7 batch showed the best result and was found to extend the release of Salbutamol Sulphate and Theophylline upto 12 hr. and was found to be comparable with marketed sustained released tablet Theoasthalin SR (Cipla). The in- vitro drug release followed Korsemeyer-Peppas kinetics and the drug release mechanism was found to be of anomalous type i.e, swelling and diffusion.