DOI: 10.21276/sajp.2018.7.12.4

Pages: 480-487

Gastrointestinal drug delivery is a technique to prolong gastric residence time for site-specific targeted drug release. Mucoadhesive microsphere is an approach to achieve gastric retention for improved bioavailability. This study was aimed at preparing and evaluating metronidazole mucoadhesive microspheres using the ionic gelation technique. The microspheres were prepared by dispersing the polymers in distilled water followed by incorporation of the drug and extrusion into aqueous anhydrous calcium chloride solution. Different drug-polymer ratios were used for the process. The microspheres were evaluated for yield, compatibility studies using thin layer chromatography (TLC) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), swelling index, mucoadhesion, entrapment efficiency and drug release studies. Microspheres formulated exhibited no possible drug-polymer interactions. Retention factors of the microspheres were approximately the same with a deviation of ± 0.2 and this was corroborated by the information obtained from the DSC