Characteristic and controlled release of antiviral drug: A comparative study on preparative techniques and polymer affected parameter

The aim of this work was to design and characterize microparticulate oral drug delivery system for an antiviral drug, Acyclovir for achieving sustained release. The present work encompasses microencapsulation techniques, core substances and other fundamentals involved in the preparation and characterization of microparticles. The microparticles were characterized for particle size, particle morphology, encapsulation efficiency, XRD and in vitro drug release. The release of drug from these microparticulate delivery systems was also compared, and a possible release mechanism was proposed using different kinetic models. The drug release from all the formulations followed anomalous diffusion mechanism and was best fit to Higuchi’s kinetic model. Significant differences in percentage yield, entrapment efficiency, particle size and sustaining capacity were seen with microspheres prepared by two different methods. The in-vitro release of drug from microparticles was sustained over 17 days.