Enhancement of Dissolution Rate of Aceclofenac Tablets by Solid Dispersion in Superdisintegrants

Abstract

Aceclofenac, a widely prescribed non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug is practically insoluble in water and aqueous fluids, because it exhibits poor and variable dissolution rate and oral bioavailability. The objective of the study is to investigate the feasibility of enhancing the dissolution rate of aceclofenac by solid dispersion in superdisintegrants, a new class of tablet excipients. Solid dispersions of aceclofenac in four superdisintegrants namely croscarmellose sodium, crospovidone, prosolve and primogel were prepared and evaluated for dissolution rate. The dissolution rate of aceclofenac could be enhanced markedly upto 32 fold by solid dispersion in superdisintegrants. The order of increasing dissolution rate observed with various superdisintegrants was croscarmellose sodium > crospovidone > prosolve > primogel. The solid dispersions of aceclofenac in crospovidone and croscarmellose sodium could be formulated into tablets by both wet granulation and direct compression methods and the resulting tablets also gave much higher dissolution rates and DE₃₀ values when compared to plain tablets.