Formulation and in vitro evaluation of compression coated mebeverine HCl tablets for colon targeting

The aim of the study was to develop colon targeted compression coated Mebeverine HCl (MEB) tablets using pH dependent, swellable and rupturable polymers for effective treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The MEB loaded core tablets were prepared by direct compression method using CCM and CP as super disintegrating agents at different concentrations and evaluated for pre compression and post compression parameters. The optimized core tablets were further used to fabricate compression coated tablets using different ratios of Eudragit L100, Eudragit S100 as pH- dependent polymers, Keltone and Ethocel as swellable and rupturable polymers by modified compression method. Drug compatibility with excipients was checked by FTIR studies and results indicate no interaction. The precompression and post compression studies were within acceptable limits. In vitro dissolution studies were done for compression coated tablets to find out the lag phase, burst drug release and retard drug release The findings of this study concludes that the lag time of compression coated tablet can be modulated by combining with EL 100, ES 100, Keltone and Ethocel in different weight ratio. These designed tablet system was found to be satisfactory in terms of release of the drug after the predetermined lag time, thus the system can be target to release in the colon proximity. The compression coating technique can be successfully applied for MEB for colon targeting to treat IBS.