Development and characterization of pullulan-based orally disintegrating films containing amlodipine besylate

The aim of this study was to prepare pullulan-based orally disintegrating films (ODFs) containing amlodipine besylate, an anti-hypertensive drug, by the solvent casting method. For this purpose, nine different ODF formulations (F1-F9) were prepared by using different plasticizers (glycerol, sorbitol, propylene glycol) and different superdisintegrants (croscarmellose sodium, sodium starch glycolate, crospovidone). FD&C Green and aspartame were used as coloring agent and sweetener, respectively. According to the results of preformulation studies, the optimum ODF (F9) was determined and various characterization studies such as uniformity of mass, film thickness, surface pH of films, and mechanical properties (such as elongation at break, tensile strength, Young's modulus, and folding endurance), moisture content, disintegration time, uniformity of content and dissolution test, X-ray, DSC, SEM and short term stability analysis were performed on this formulation. Cytotoxicity and permeability studies for the F9 formulation were performed on the human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) cell line. The formulation F9 had appropriate morphological and mechanical properties and disintegrated within 51.3 s according to the petri dish method, and 28.8 s according to the drop method. Dissolution studies revealed that 78.1 % of amlodipine besylate was dissolved in 20 min from F9 formulation. Cell culture studies showed that the formulation had no significant toxic effect on the Caco-2 cells. Also, there was no significant difference between the Caco-2 permeabilities of amlodipine besylate powder and amlodipine besylate ODFs. As a result of all these studies, we suggest to use the pullulan based amlodipine besylate ODFs to enhance ease of administration and patient compliance.