Improving Dissolution of Meloxicam Using Solid Dispersions

Meloxicam is a poorly water soluble non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug and antipyreticagent. the aim of the present work was to investigate the effect of different types of carr ierson in vitro dissolution of meloxicam. meloxicam solid dispersions were prepared by physicalmixing, co-grinding and solvent evaporation methods with polyethylene glycol (peg) 6000.the effect of solubilization by sodium lauryl sulphate (sls) was also studied. the dissolutionwas determined by usp xxvii apparatus i, using phosphate buffer with a ph of 7.4 as thedissolution medium. the maximum in vitro dissolution of meloxi cam, i.e. 97.45% in 60 min,was observed for solid dispersions containing meloxicam (150 mg), peg 6000 (350 mg) andsls (75 mg) prepared by solvent evaporation method containing a sum of 3 g of lactose andmcc (4: 1) as additives. the general trend indicated that there was an increase in dissolutionrate for solid dispersions containing the solubilizer sls. the best-fit model indicating themechanism of dissolution from the formul ation showing the highest release for was foundto be higuchi matrix release (r=0.9774 , b=13.042, a=2.4798). infra red spectroscopy (ir)indicated that meloxicam in solid disper sions showed physi cal entrapment. the increased indissolution rate of meloxicam by solid dispersion technique may be due to increase wettabilityand hydrophilic nature of carrier.