Design and Development of Microparticulate Reservoir Matrices

Drug absorption in the gastrointestinal tract is a highly variable procedure and prolonging gastric retention of the dosage form extends the time for absorption. Gastro-retentive floating drug delivery system have emerged as an efficient means of enhancing the bioavailability and controlled delivery of many drugs. Various techniques have been reported for gastro retentive site specific drug delivery. However, all these techniques have their own advantages and disadvantages. Pros of floating drug delivery system includes; gastric retention time is increased because of buoyancy, site specific drug delivery to stomach can be obtained, drug controlled release of drug for a prolonged period, decreased dosing frequency, targeted therapy for local ailments in the upper GIT, better therapeutic effect of short half life drugs, increase absorption of drugs soluble in stomach & reduced fluctuations of drug concentration. To formulate floating drug delivery system (FDDS) that dissolve slowly enough to serve as a drug reservoir with specific gravity lower than gastric contents (1.004–1.010) g/ml.