A Floating Controlled-Release Drug Delivery System: In Vitro-in Vivo Evaluation

A novel floating controlled-release drug delivery system was formulated in an effort increase the gastric retention time of the dosage form and to control drug release. The buoyancy was attributed to air and oil entrapped in the agar gel network. A floating controlled-release 300-mg theophylline tablet having a density of 0.67 was prepared and compared in vitro and in vivo to Theo-dur. The in vitro release rate of the floating tablet was slower. In vivo scintigraphic studies for a floating and a heavy nonfloating tablet, under fasting and nonfasting conditions, showed that the presence of food significantly increased the gastric retention time for both tablets, and tablet density did not appear to make a difference in the gastric retention time. However, the positions of the floating and nonfloating tablets in the stomach were very different. Bioavailability studies in human volunteers under both fasting and nonfasting conditions showed results comparable to those with Theo-dur. The floating controlled-release theophylline tablet maintained constant theophylline levels of about 2 mg/mL for 24 hr, which may be attributable to the release from the agar gel matrix and the buoyancy of the tablet in the stomach.