A Novel Pulsatile Drug Delivery System with Colon Specificity : A Complete Overview of Pulsatile Drug Delivery System

The aim of current study was to investigate the in-vitro performance of compress coated tablet of Atenolol. Administration of conventional tablet has been reported to exhibit fluctuation in the plasma drug level, resulting either in manifestation of side effect or reduction in drug concentration at the receptor site. Atenolol has strong absorption throughout GIT as well as in colon. But, it causes GI irritation problem. Hence it is always effective to have absorption of Atenolol at Colon site. A novel colon targeted tablet formulation was developed by press coating rapidly disintegrating tablet of Atenolol with HPMC K100M, guar gum and Eudragit S-100 as barrier layer. The device was enteric coated so that variability in gastric emptying time can be overcome and a colon specific release can be achieved. Different combinations of polymers were selected to achieve suitable lag time for the treatment of hypertension. In-vitro release study was carried out for prepared tablets, showed that the tablet coated with HPMC K100M, guar gum and Eudragit S-100 have limited drug release in stomach and small intestinal environment and released maximum amount of drug in the colonic environment.