Abstract

Piroxicam, a non-steroidal antiinflammatory agent is widely used as a first line drug in the symptomatic relief of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Major problem with this drug is its very low solubility in biological fluids, which results into poor bioavailability after oral administration. Therefore, tablet formulation of piroxicam with polyvinyl pyrolidone K-30 and sodium lauryl sulphate was prepared with a view to increase its water solubility. The dissolution profile of promising batch T1 was compared with marketed preparation (MP-dispersible tablet). Batch T1 gave far better dissolution than the marketed product, which released only 55% drug in 30 min while batch T1 released 86% drug in 30 min. Comparison of in vitro dissolution profile of batch T1 with that of cycladol (solid dispersion with b cyclodextrin) showed no significant difference in % dissolution efficiency except time for 50% dissolution (t50) for cycladol was 4.41 min while for batch T1 it was 9.29 min. Batch T1 was considered better than cycladol as far as the cost of raw materials used in the product is concerned. Selected formulation (batch T1) was subjected to stability studies. The formulation was found to be stable for 4 w at 45o with insignificant change in the hardness, disintegration time and in vitro drug release pattern.