Development and Evaluation of Rabeprazole Sodium Core In Cup Tablets for Pulsatile Drug Delivery

Pulsatile Drug Delivery systems (PDDS) are basically time-controlled drug delivery systems in which the system controls the lag time and drug is released in an immediate or extended fashion. The present study was conducted to develop and evaluate pulsatile release tablets of Rabeprazole sodium for the treatment of peptic ulcers. The compression coated tablets consisted of a core tablet containing drug with superdisintegrant, which was further coated by erodible outer layer consisted of HPMC K15M, ethyl cellulose and Karaya gum. After carrying out preformulation studies, the developed tablets were evaluated for post-compression parameters like weight variation, thickness, hardness, friability, drug content and in-vitro drug release study. The best formulation was selected on the basis of post-compression parameters and was subjected to accelerated stability studies for 1 month. Amongst 6 formulations prepared, C5 produced convincing results with a maximum cumulative drug release of 99.97% in 150 minutes. Also the formulation didn’t show any significant changes during 1 month period of stress testing. By virtue of its release pattern and delivering the drug at the right time, right place and in right amounts, the developed delivery system holds good promises of benefiting the patients suffering from peptic ulcers. The release profile of optimized formulation C5 was close to korsmeyer peppas model. Irrespective of the polymer type and its concentration, the prepared optimized pulsatile tablets showed non fickian (anomalous) release.