Osmotic delivery of flurbiprofen through controlled porosity asymmetric membrane capsule

The release of poorly water-soluble drug, flurbiprofen, through asymmetric membrane capsule of cellulose acetate containing different pore forming agents like glycerol, polyethylene glycol 400, and dibutyl phthalate, in presence of sodium lauryl sulfate was investigated. The asymmetric membrane was fabricated in the shape of capsule body and cap by phase inversion technique. The type of pore forming agent incorporated had a marked influence on the porosity of the asymmetric membrane. However flurbiprofen due to its poor solubility was unable to create enough osmotic pressure and hence less than 10% of drug was released from all the systems with out SLS. However when the study was conducted with SLS, a maximum release of 72% was observed from the capsule with 70% glycerol. The release rates were found to increase with the increase in the concentration of pore forming agent and the amount of SLS encapsulated.