FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF CONTROLLED POROSITY OSMOTIC TABLET OF LOSARTAN POTASSIUM

Osmotically controlled oral drug delivery systems utilize osmotic pressure as energy source for the controlled delivery of drugs. The aim of the present study is to formulate and evaluate controlled porosity osmotic tablets of Losartan Potasssium. Losartan Potassium is used in hypertension. Core tablets were prepared by direct compression technique using mannitol, fructose and NaCl as osmogens and Avicel PH101 as filler. The osmotic tablet contains pore forming water soluble additives in the coating membrane, which dissolve after coming in contact with water, resulting in formation of an in-situ micro porous structure. The core tablets were coated by dip coating using cellulose acetate as a coating agent with PEG 400 and PEG 6000 as water soluble pore former and dibutyl pthalate as plasticizer. The formulations were evaluated for precompression and postcompression parameters. The batch F8C2 containing Fructose as an osmogen and 20 % PEG 6000 as a pore forming agent showed the 91.25 % drug release for 12 hrs. Keywords: Antihypertensive, Losartan Potassium, Osmotic, PEG 6000, Semi Permeable Membrane.