Fabrication and In-vitro Evaluation of Buccal Mucoadhesive Tablet of Meloxicam

In this study, buccal mucoadhesive tablets of meloxicam were formulated for drug delivery as an alternative route. Direct compression method was applied for the preparation of tablets. Also, different polymers, including hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) 1000, 4000, and 10000, as well as carbopol 934p and carbopol 971p were used as the mucoadhesive polymer and retardant polymer. Thirteen formulations were investigated with various concentrations of polymers. The physicochemical characteristics, in-vitro drug release, swelling index, and taste modification of tablets were evaluated. Also, Carr’s index and Hausner ratio were studied. In addition, zero-order, first-order, and Higuchi kinetics were investigated and the results showed that the highest correlation coefficient (R(2)) is related to zero-order kinetic for formulations B(2) and B(3). Furthermore, the highest R(2) is related to Higuchi kinetic for formulation C(3). Formulation B(2) showed the maximum release of 99% in 12 h. The results demonstrated that Formulation B(2) can be considered as a proper buccal mucoadhesive tablet of meloxicam with desired property.