In-vitro Absorption Studies of Mucoadhesive Tablets of Acyclovir

Abstract:

In this work, the dissolution-absorption studies were conducted on marketed tablets of acyclovir (ACIVIR-200mg) and the mucoadhesive tablets of acyclovir using varying concentration of sodium lauryl sulfate as a permeation enhancer. The purpose of this study was to improve the absorption of acyclovir using sodium lauryl sulfate as permeation enhancer. The everted and perfused intestine model was used to study the permeation of mucoadhesive tablets of acyclovir. The studies yielded dissolution-absorption relationship that can be used to predict dissolution or permeation-rate-limited absorption for formulated and marketed formulations. The results showed that marketed tablets of acyclovir had less permeability coefficient (0.778×10^-9 cm/sec) as compared to mucoadhesive tablets with varying concentrations of sodium lauryl sulfate. The permeability increased with increasing concentration of sodium lauryl sulfate and permeability coefficient for mucoadhesive tablets with 4% sodium lauryl sulfate was found to be 5.231x 10^-9 cm/sec. Amongst the varying concentrations of sodium lauryl sulfate used, 4% of sodium lauryl sulfate in the dissolution medium of mucoadhesive tablet of acyclovir showed highest increase in permeation of acyclovir therapy increasing the bioavailability of acyclovir.

Keywords: Acyclovir, bioavailability, sodium lauryl sulfate, mucoadhesion, permeability.