Modified katira gum for colon targeted drug delivery

The aim of the this study is to develop colon targeted drug delivery systems for Ibuprofen using grafted katira gum as a carrier. Polyacrylamide‐grafted katira gum was synthesized by grafting acrylamide onto katira gum in presence of varying concentration of ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) as initiator. Elemental analysis, FTIR, TGA, DTA, DSC, and SEM were used to characterize the grafting of acrylamide onto katira gum. Matrix tablets containing various proportions of grafted katira gum were prepared by wet granulation method. All the formulations were evaluated for hardness, drug content, swelling index, and in vitro release studies in simulated gastric fluid, small intestinal fluid, and simulated colonic fluid with and without enzymes. Ibuprofen was used for controlled release study. The drug release mechanism was studied by fitting into Peppas model and was found to be supercase‐II transport. Matrix tablets containing 0.3 g of CAN/gm of acrylamide showed optimum value and retained its physical integrity in simulated gastric, small intestinal and colonic fluid, where as other composition disintegrated within 2 h of dissolution testing in pH 1.2 buffer, simulated gastric fluid. The results of this study indicates that Ibuprofen matrix tablet containing 60 wt % composition of the above grafted katira gum would be potential formulations in delivering the drug to the colon and the more susceptible for enzymatic degradation. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011