Taste masked sustained release tablet of cefpodoxime proxetil

Abstract

Cefpodoxime proxetil is an intensely bitter extended spectrum third generation oral cephalosporin used to treat upper and lower respiratory tract infections, gonorrhea and urinary tract indections, administered on thrice a day dosage regimen. It is bitter in taste and taste should be masked to formulate it in a palatable form. So an attempt was made to sustain the release as well as to mask the bitter taste by complexation technique using strong cation-exchange resins, tulson-344. The drug loading onto ion-exchange resin was optimized for mixing time, activation, effect of pH, mode of mixing, ratio of drug:resin and temperature. The resinate was evaluated for micromeritic properties, taste masking and characterized using DSC and IR. Using resinate sustained release tablets were formulated using hydoxy propyl methyl cellulose (K100M). The tablets were evaluated for hardness, thickness, friability, drug content, weight variation and in vitro drug release. Tablets thus formulated (Batch PK-4) provided sustained release of drug over a period of 12 h. The release of cefpodoxime proxetil from resinate controls the diffusion of drug molecules through the polymeric material into aqueous medium. The results showed that cefpodoxime proxetil was successfully taste masked and formulated into a sustained dosage form as an alternative to conventional tablet.