Abstract

FORMULATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF FLOATING MICROSPHERES OF CEFUROXIME AXETIL

*Kajal Singh, Dr. Arun Patel, Shailendra Patel

ABSTRACT

The present study was aimed at the formulation and development of floating microspheres of Cefuroxime axetil for prolonged gastric retention and controlled drug release. Cefuroxime axetil is a broad-spectrum second-generation cephalosporin antibiotic with limited gastric residence time and variable bioavailability. Floating microspheres were prepared by solvent diffusion evaporation method using Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose (HPMC) and Ethyl Cellulose (EC) as polymers in different ratios. The prepared microspheres were evaluated for percentage yield, drug entrapment efficiency, buoyancy, particle size, zeta potential, and in-vitro drug release. The optimized formulation (F3) showed maximum percentage yield (73.32±0.65%), drug entrapment efficiency (75.56±0.23%), and buoyancy (76.65±0.52%). The particle size and zeta potential of optimized formulation were found to be 198.3 nmand -35.8 mV respectively. In-vitro drug release study demonstrated sustained drug release up to 12 hours following zero-order kinetics with regression coefficient (R²) value of 0.958. Stability studies indicated that the optimized formulation remained stable under accelerated storage conditions. The study concluded that floating microspheres of Cefuroxime axetil can be successfully developed for sustained gastric retention and controlled drug delivery.

Keywords: Cefuroxime axetil, Floating microspheres, Gastroretentive drug delivery system, HPMC, Ethyl cellulose, Controlled release.