The Effect of Plantago major Mucilage on the Release Profile and Bioadhesive Properties of Propranolol HCl Bucccoadhesive Tablets in Comparison with Current Polymers

Background: drug delivery via buccal mucosa offers distinct advantages over peroraladministration. plant gums and exudates are getting screened for their use aspharmaceutical adjuvant. the aim of this study is to investigate the suitability of theplantago major seed mucilage as a mucoadhesive agent, and propranololhydrochloride is chosen as a model drug. methods: mucoadhesive tablets ofpropranolol were formulated using four mucoadhesive polymers namely carbopol934p, hpmc k4m, tragacanth and plantago major mucilage. the swelling, erosion,mucoadhesive force and in vitro drug release were studied. results: maximumbioadhesive strength was observed with carbopol 934p and the lowest bioadhesivestrength was seen with tragacanth. the results also showed that bioadhesive stenghtincreased with increase in the amount of polymers. as the amount of polymersincreased from 40 mg to 160 mg per tablet, initial drug release as well as drug releasein the latter hours was decreased. the lowest release rate was observed withformulation f6 containing carbopol 934p and the highest release rate was observedwith formulation f7 containing tragacanth. formulations that contain carbopol 934pshowed highest bioadhesive force. also the bioadhesion force increased as thepolymer amount increased. the highest and lowest percent of swelling were observedwith f2 and f8, respectively. the kinetic of drug release have changed by increase inamount of mucilage. conclusions: the mucilage of plantago major can be used asbioadhesive polymer in bioadhesive formulations.