Abstract
Liquisolid is a novel technique to enhance solubility and dissolution rate of BCS class II drugs through oral route. This technique of delivering drugs is suitable mostly for liphophilic drugs and poorly water soluble drugs. However, an apparent limitation of this technique is the formulation of a high dose because a large amount of liquid vehicle is needed, which finally results in a low-dose liquid solid formulation. This approach is suitable for both immediate and sustained release formulations. The purpose of the present work is to improve the solubility and dissolution rate of poorly soluble drug, Piroxicam, by liquisolid technique. Solubility is increased by using non-volatile solvents such as PEG 400, Labrosol, Span 20 and Tween 80 in single or combination which are suitable for drug and dissolving the drug in those non volatile solvents, which is termed as ‘liquid medicament’. The liquid medicament is blended with carriers such as microcrystalline cellulose and Aerosil to convert the liquid medicament into a non-adhering, dry looking powder which has acceptable flow properties and compression behavior. These Liquisolid systems are evaluated by micromeritic studies like flow behavior, bulk density, tapped density, compressibility index, drug content, in vitro release, Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction. Increase in dissolution rate and in turn improvement in bioavailability is observed in the case of poorly water soluble drug i.e. Piroxicam by this Liquisolid technique.
