Development and evaluation of in situ novel intragastric controlled-release formulation of hydrochlorothiazide

In situ forming intragastric controlled-release formulation is a new technology in the field of oral controlled-release delivery systems. The objective of this study was to develop formulations that can control drug release up to 24 hours. In addition, a combination of appropriate polymers and solvents was selected that could form a drug loaded gel at the process temperature of 60-70 °C, which gel could turn into a rigid mass upon exposure to dissolution fluid at body temperature. The drug release mechanism from this rigid mass was controlled by different formulation factors such as different polymer grades, polymer concentrations, hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity of solvents, different drug loadings, and physicochemical properties of additional excipients. After evaluating different formulation factors, Ethocel 10 FP and triethyl citrate were selected for further studies using hydrochlorothiazide as a model drug. Polynomial correlation between viscosity of the blank gel and drug release profile was also obtained.