The development of propranolol hydrochloride microporous osmotic pump

Abstract

There are several factors affecting the release of drug from the propranolol hydrochloride osmotic pump devices ; such as the plasticizer type, the level of plasticizer in coated film, the type of osmotic agents within osmotic devices, the passageway size, etc. The effect of many factors was evaluated by using the scanning electron microscope and the release characteristic. The results displayed that Polyethylene glycol 400 supported the release of drug from osmotic devices whereas Dibutyl phthalate suppressed the release of drug. The microporous membrane and sponge-like structure were created after the osmotic devices were coated with cellulose acetate plasticized with PEG 400 and were exposed in water. For the osmotic devices coated with cellulose acetate plasticized with DBP, the non-porous membrane was observed even when the osmotic devices was in contact attracted with water. The release of the drug from osmotic devices increased as the level of PEG 400 in coated film increased. The photomicrographs demonstrated that the size of the porosity of the film was increased with increasing level of PEG 400. In the case of PEG 4000, the results were also similar to PEG 400. The release of drug from osmotic devices was not altered when the levels of DBP in coated film increased. The photomicrographs of DBP plasticized film coated osmotic devices was the same although the level of DBP in coated film increased. However, the amount of drug release from osmotic devices increased with increasing osmotic pressure within the devices and decreased with increasing osmotic pressure of the dissolution medium. In consideration of the passageway size, the drug release rate from osmotic devices was indifferent although the size was increased from 400 to 1500 µm.