Floating Microspheres of Ethyl Cellulose and Pluronic F127 for Controlled Release of Acyclovir

The present work reports on the preparation of ethyl cellulose (EC)-pluronic F127 (PF127)-based tableted floating microspheres by the oil-in-water emulsion solvent evaporation method for the controlled release of acyclovir (ACV). Microspheres of this study were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to investigate the chemical interactions of ACV with the polymer, floating behavior, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for morphology of the microspheres, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for investigating their thermal properties  and X-ray diffraction (XRD) as well as. In vitro release experiments of microspheres were performed in acidic pH 1.2 media to understand the release profiles of ACV. The selected sets of microspheres were compressed into tablets using the compressible excipients and their in vitro release performances were evaluated in pH 1.2 media.