Formulation and evaluation of alfuzosin hydrochloride extended release tablets

Purpose The aim of the study was to design extended release tablets capable of producing a 20 h extended release profile there by eliminating the use of immediate release tablets which require a frequent administration of three tablets containing 2.5 mg of alfuzosin hydrochloride of daily dose. The present study deals with formulation of Alfuzosin Hydrochloride extended release tablets. Benign prostatic hyperplasia is a noncancerous prostate problem in which the normal elements of the prostate gland grow in size and number, requires an alpha-adrenergic blocker which is having optimum therapeutic window concentration for a prolonged duration. With the above characteristics Alfuzosin Hydrochloride was selected as active therapeutic agent. Methods. Alfuzosin HCl extended release matrix tablets were prepared by direct compression method by employing hydrophilic polymer HPMC K 100 M and Crosslinked xyloglucan (XG).The crosslinked XG was prepared by crosslinking of natural polysaccharide i.e XG with crosslinking agent Sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP). Simplex centroid design was applied for the optimization process. The prepared tablets were evaluated for various physicochemical parameters by official procedures. The in-vitro release study of matrix tablets was carried out in 0.01N HCl for 24 hours. Results. The tablets exhibited acceptable physicochemical characteristics and extended drug release pattern was observed for about 20h. Analysis of drug release data from the matrix system indicated that the drug release follows zero order kinetics by anomalous (non-fickian) diffusion. Conclusion. The crosslinked XG alongwith HPMC K 100M & DCP showed the potential for prolonged delivery of Alfuzosin over a 20 h period and therefore may be a suitable candidate for use in sustained release drug delivery system.