Chitosan/HPMC Polymer Blends for Developing Transdermal Drug Delivery Systems

Chitosan and hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) blends in different compositions viz., 100/0, 80/20, 60/40, 40/60, 20/80 and 0/100 by wt/wt ratio have been prepared with and without the incorporation of propranalol HCl by the solvent casting method. The films were casted using 1% glacial acetic acid and glycerine as the solvent and plasticizer, respectively. Distilled water was used as a solvent for the drug. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength and percentage elongation at break and optical properties of chitosan/HPMC have been reported. The drug diffusion behavior of chitosan/HPMC drug films in buffer solution (pH 7.4) has been established by open glass diffusion cell at 37±1°C. The diffusion rate of drug from the polymer blends was determined by UV/Visible spectroscopy. It may be concluded that a chitosan/HPMC blend could be a promising approach for formulating a transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) as they have good film forming property.