Development of Gabapentin Expandable Gastroretentive Controlled Drug Delivery System

Expandable drug delivery systems are one of many gastroretentive delivery systems which have emerged during the last few years. Expandable systems are usually folded in a capsule and expand to dimensions greater than the pyloric sphincter upon contact with gastric fluid. This prevents them from being evacuated by gastric emptying. The main objective of developing such systems is to increase the residence time of a specific drug in stomach; controlling its release, increasing its bioavailability and decreasing its side effects and dosing frequency. An expandable gastroretentive drug delivery system containing Gabapentin was developed using experimental design (D-optimal reduced quadratic design). This system was able to unfold at stomach pH in less than 15 minutes and obtain a controlled release of 78.1 ± 4.7% in 6 hours following zero-order release kinetic model. It is rigid in stomach and its rigidity decreases at intestinal pH. FTIR analysis indicated the occurrence of hydrogen bonding in Gabapentin when present in the developed system, which might be responsible for the drug’s controlled release. XRD analysis indicated that Gabapentin physical properties changed from crystalline in the typical state to amorphous in the developed system.