Development and Evaluation of Gastroretentive Floating Tablets of an Antihypertensive Drug Using Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil

The aim of the present work was to develop a gastroretentive floating tablet of Atenolol and investigate the effects of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic retardant on in vitro release. Atenolol is an antihypertensive drug with an oral bioavailability of only 50% because of its poor absorption from lower gastrointestinal tract. The floating tablets of Atenolol were prepared to increase the gastric retention, to extend the drug release, and to improve the bioavailability of the drug. The floating tablets were formulated using hydrophilic polymers as Hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC K4M and HPMC K15M), hydrophobic retardant as a hydrogenated cottonseed oil (HCSO), and sodium bicarbonate as a gas generating agent to reduce floating lag time. The formulated tablets were evaluated for the quality control tests such as weight variation, hardness, friability, swelling index, floating lag time, and total floating time. The in vitro release study of the tablets was performed in 0.1 N HCl as a dissolution media. The results of the present study clearly indicates the promising potential of Atenolol floating system as an alternative to the conventional dosage and other sustained release formulations. The study also revealed the effectiveness of HCSO as retardant in combination with HPMC.