Development of gum acacia-alginate microspheres of metformin hydrochloride: In vitro characterization

Abstract

The metabolic disorder type 2 diabetes mellitus continuously increasing in the world. This disorder affecting all age groups. Thus, this disorder is now creating burden on healthcare sector, especially in case of underdeveloped countries. Nowadays many conventional drug delivery systems are available for management of diabetes mellitus. The gums and mucilages are polysaccharide obtained from various plant. Thus, present study is started with aim to formulate gum acacia based microspheres for gastroretentive delivery of metformin hydrochloride. The drug loaded microspheres were formulated using ionic gelation method and evaluated for physicochemical properties, mucoadhesive potential, swelling index and in vitro drug release study. The microspheres showed acceptable physicochemical properties, good swelling ability, mucoadhesive potential and sustained drug release. Thus, gum acacia could be promising alternative for fabrication of gastroretentive drug delivery system.