Abstract

Using a 23 factorial design of experiment, the effect of three factors such as concentration of added PVP (0.1 and 0.25% w/v), drug: β-CD molar ratio (1:1 and 1:2) and autoclaving (121o for 30 min) on aqueous solubility of meloxicam β-CD complex prepared by solvent evaporation method was investigated. The ANOVA results on solubility values showed that increase in PVP concentration from 0.1% to 0.25% (w/v) significantly enhanced the solubility of the drug in alkall (pH 7.4) whereas increase in the drug β-CD molar ratio from 1:1 to 1:2 improved significantly the solubility of the drug in acid (pH 1.2). Effect of autoclaving failed to reach significant levels in both the systems. PVP concentration of 0.25% w/v with drug: β-CD molar ratio of 1:2 showed significant interaction which can be considered as optimum for achieving enhanced drug solubility in both acid and alkall. In vitro dissolution tests in acid (pH 1.2) revealed that only 38% of the drug was released from tablets of meloxicam, whereas 77% to 93% of the drug was released from tablets of meloxicam β-CD complexes over a period of one hour following first order rate kinetics.