Exploring the potential of gastro retentive dosage form in delivery of ellagic acid and aloe vera gel powder for treatment of gastric ulcers.

Approach of novel drug delivery system (NDDS) overcomes the limitations of conventional dosage forms. However, this concept is still not practiced to a large extent in delivery of herbal drugs in Ayurveda. Thus, the potential of herbal drugs has not been explored to its fullest. Hence, there is a growing need to amalgamate the concept of NDDS in delivery of herbal constituents. The present investigation is designed to deliver and retain two herbal constituents in stomach for better action against Helicobacter pylori induced gastric ulcers. The objective was to develop a bilayer floating tablet of ellagic acid and Aloe vera gel powder through rational combination of excipients to give the lowest possible lag time with maximum drug release in the period of 4 h. Formulation F9 containing 100 mg of HPMC K15M, 27 mg of crospovidone, 80 mg of mannitol and effervescent agents in the ratio 1:2 gave 92% drug release and desired floating properties. In vivo studies showed that combination of ellagic acid and Aloe vera gave 75 % ulcer inhibition in comparison to 57% ulcer inhibition in the group which was administered with ellagic acid alone. This suggests the use of bilayer floating tablet in gastric ulcer treatment.

Development of bilayer floating tablet of amoxicillin and Aloe vera gel powder for treatment of gastric ulcers.

Usual treatment for Helicobacter pylori-induced peptic ulcer includes a 'triple therapy' consisting of two antibiotics (amoxicillin and clarithromycin) and a proton pump inhibitor (omeprazole). The objective of this project work was defined with a view to retain the drug in stomach for better antiulcer activity and substituting one of the synthetic drugs in this therapy with a herbal alternative. Hence, aim of the present work was to design and develop a bilayer floating tablet of amoxicillin and Aloe vera gel powder for the treatment of peptic ulcer. A. vera gel powder is used for its cytoprotective action. Bilayer floating tablets were prepared by applying direct compression technique. The proportion of sodium bicarbonate and citric acid was adjusted to get the least possible lag time with good matrix integrity and total floating time. Polymer concentration was adjusted to get the maximum release in 8 h. The formulation was developed using hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) K4M and HPMC K100M in a ratio of 85:15 along with 1:4 ratio of effervescent agents was found to give floating lag time of less than 1 min with total floating time of more than 8 h and 97.0% drug release in 8 h. In vivo study in rats meets the requirement of antiulcer activity for bilayer tablet in comparison to single amoxicillin as standard.