Mucoadhesive Buccal Tablet Formulation of Azithromycin dihydrate for treatment of Upper Respiratory Tract Infection

The buccal drug delivery system is a versatile delivery system which can be designed for local or systemic effect. The objective of the study was to developed patient complacent tablet which can give sustain release of antibacterial agent for relief of upper respiratory tract infection. Azithromycin dihydrate is a semi-synthetic macrolide antibiotic widely used to prevent bacterial infections in the upper respiratory tract. The mucoadhesive buccal tablets of azithromycin dihydrate were formulated by varying concentrations of polymers (natural and synthetic), glidant and other excipients. The drug-excipient compatibility studies were carried out through DSC and FTIR studies. The selected excipients were found to be compatible. Further the dry blend of drug-excipients was evaluated for pre-compression properties. The prepared tablets were evaluated as per the general monograph for tablets of IP. The studies were also carried out to evaluate sustained release of the drug and mucoadhesivity of the tablets. A 23 level (2 level and 3 factors) factorial design was navigated to study the effect of natural, synthetic polymers and the glidant on mucoadhesive strength and percentage cumulative drug release at 8 hours. The responsive variables were analysed using ANOVA by Design-Expert version 12.0. It was concluded that these excipients significantly affected the response variables. The optimized tablet formulation was found to have an adequate mucoadhesion and a cumulative percentage release. The final product was performed for accelerated stability studies, optimized formulation was found to be stable at room temperature and accelerated temperature for three months.