DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MUCOADHESIVE PATCHES OF NICERGOLINE FOR BUCCAL DRUG DELIVERY BY USING FACTORIAL DESIGN OF EXPERIMENT (DOE)

The aim of this research was to develop mucoadhesive buccal patches of nicergoline by using Factorial Design of Experiment, in order to provide a sustained release of drug into the systemic circulation. A 33 factorial experimental design was employed for optimization and to study the effect of formulation variables on responses R1 (% swelling index), R2 (% drug content), R3 (mucoadhesion time) and R4 (mucoadhesion strength). In vitro drug release study was performed on the optimized formulations. All the prepared formulations had good mechanical strength, mucoadhesion strength, neutral surface pH and drug content up to 98.17%. In vitro drug release study revealed that F-5 formulation showed promising sustained drug release profile (98.21%) for over 8 h and could be a potential substitute for marketed conventional formulations. The developed formulation (F5) was found to be optimized with considerably good stability and extended drug release profile.