Properties and mechanisms of drug release from matrix tablets containing poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(acrylic acid) as release retardants

The interactions between poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) in aqueous medium at pH 6.8 were investigated in the current study. We have also studied the effect of interpolymer interactions and various formulation variables, including the molecular weight of PEO, the ratio between PEO and PAA, the crystallinity of PEO, and the presence of an acidifying agent, on the release of theophylline from matrix tablets containing both PEO and PAA as release retardants.At pH 6.8, the synergy in solution viscosity between PEO and PAA as the result of ion-dipole interaction was observed in this study. The release of theophylline from the matrix tablets containing physical mixtures of PEO and PAA was found to be a function of dissolution medium pH because of the pH-dependent interactions between these two polymers. Because of the formation of water insoluble interpolymer complex between PEO and PAA in aqueous medium at pH below 4.0, the release of theophylline was independent of PEO molecular weight and was controlled by Fickian diffusion mechanism in 0.01 N hydrochloric acid solution. In comparison, the drug release was a function of PEO molecular weight and followed the anomalous transport mechanism in phosphate buffer pH 6.8. The presence of PAA exerted opposite effects on the release of theophylline in phosphate buffer pH 6.8. In one aspect, theophylline release was accelerated because the erosion of PAA was much faster than that of PEO at pH 6.8. On the opposite aspect, theophylline release was slowed down because of the formation of insoluble complex inside the gel layer as the result of the acidic microenvironment induced by PAA, and the increase in the viscosity of the gel layer as the result of the synergy between PEO and PAA. These two opposite effects offset each other. As a result, the release of theophylline remained statistically the same even when 75% PEO in the formulation was replaced with PAA.In phosphate buffer pH 6.8, the release of theophylline was independent of the crystalline form of PEO. The release profile remained identical whether PEO was present as a semicrystalline powder blend with PAA or an amorphous complex with PAA in the matrix tablets. It has also been observed that the presence of citric acid as an acidifying agent had negligible effect on the drug release rate.

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