PREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF CONTROLLED RELEASE MATRIX TABLETS OF LAMIVUDINE

The present investigation is aimed at formulating and evaluating controlled release matrix tablets of Lamivudine using different polymers such as HPMC, Ethylcellulose, EudragitRL-100 due to their biocompatibility and cost effectiveness.Lamivudine is a potent hydrophilic anti viral agent indicated for treatment of AIDS. It belongs to class III of the BCS Classification with High solubility and low permeability. The polymers were taken at 20%,and 40% of the total weight of the tablet which is kept at a weight of 500 mg with a oral dose of 300 mg of the drug.The physical mixture was evaluated prior to compression for determining the flow properties. These tablets were evaluated for weight variation, hardness, thickness, friability, content uniformity and in-vitro drug release profile. It was found that the cumulative percent drug release decreased with increasing concentration of polymers. All the formulations were able to retard the release of the drug beyond 12 hours.F4 (20% HPMC) formulation was selected as optimized formulation.The swelling study shows that the swelling index was increased up to 6 hours and there after that the swelling index was decreased. No chemical interaction between Drug and the Polymers were seen as confirmed by FT-IR studies. Thus, sustained release matrix tablets of Lamivudine using biocompatible polymers were successfully formulated, evaluated and found to be suitable candidates in extending the release of the drug from the matrix tablets. Keywords: Lamivudine,HPMC,EthylCellulose,EudragitRL-100,Matrix Tablets