Polymeric microspheres of okra mucilage and alginate for the controlled release of oxcarbazepine: In vitro &in vivo evaluation.

Oxcarbazepine-loaded alginate/okra pods mucilage microspheres were prepared through inotropic gelation technique for the sustained release of oxcarbazepine. The drug encapsulating efficiency of these microspheres was found 76.22 ± 0.01% to 90.57 ± 0.02% and their average particle sizes were 496 μm ± 0.41 to 692 μm ± 0.22. These microspheres were characterized in terms of swelling capacity, FTIR, DSC and SEM analysis. The in vitro drug release from these microspheres was followed sustained release (Korsemeyer - Peppas model) pattern (R = 0.9552-0.9906) and value of n > 1 showed that drug released by anomalous (non-Fickian) diffusion. The in vivo studies showed that there were highly significant difference with p < 0.001 in the pharmacokinetic parameters (C t AUC K), when oxcarbazepine was formulated in form of polymeric microspheres as compared to pure drug.