Sustained Release Multiparticulate Oral Drug Delivery System of Piper betle Leaf Extract

Introduction Piper betle Linn. is a climber plant in the family of Piperaceae. It has been extensively used in the traditional herbal remedies in Thailand. The reported pharmacological effects of P. betle were antimicrobial8, anti-oxidant3, anti-inflammatory9, anticarcinogenic4,6, anti-diabetic2 and xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity5. The major bioactive constituent in P. betle is hydroxychavicol or allylpyrocatechol. Due to the beneficial activities of P. betle, the use of the extract of P. betle leaf containing the active compound, hydroxychavicol, to prepare as the pharmaceutical dosage forms is interesting. Multiparticulate drug delivery systems such as beads have been used to deliver the active compounds. The active constituent incorporated in the systems could release in a sustained manner. Furthermore, the encapsulated compounds could be protected from the environments; thus, the stability of the encapsulated compounds could be extended. Sodium alginate is a good candidate for preparation of beads due to its excellent properties such as good biocompatibility, good biodegradability and non-toxicity. The encapsulation of the active ingredients is obtained by cross-linking ability of sodium alginate when contact to divalent cations in aqueous solution.1 The objectives of this study were therefore to develop sustained release alginate beads containing P. betle leaf extract intended for oral delivery of hydroxychavicol and to determine the effects of formulation variables on the physical properties and the in vitro hydroxychavicol release.