COMPATIBILITY STUDIES OF ATORVASTATIN CALCIUM WITH SELECTED EXCIPIENTS BY MEANS OF THERMAL AND FT-IR SPECTROSCOPIC METHODS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF IMMEDIATE RELEASE TABLET

Abstract

The objectives of present investigation is to evaluate the compatibility of Atorvastatin calcium with immediate release excipients and to optimize the tablet which release is best comparable with innovator product by varying different super disintegrants. Various excipients used were sodium starch glycollate, cross carmellose sodium, cross-povidone, lactose, micro crystalline cellulose, mannitol, sodium lauryl sulfate, magnesium stearate, and stearic acid. Thermal characterization of the drug was done by DSC and FT-IR. From the DSC studies, the excipients such as microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel 101), magnesium stearate, mannitol, sodium lauryl sulfate were found to have physical interactions with Atorvastatin. Immediate release tablet was prepared by direct compression method and its release profile was compared with the marketed IR tablet. The prepared tablet have conform the pharmacopoeial limit for hardness, thickness, friability, weight variation and content uniformity. Formulation F11 containing two super disintegrants have shown the disintegration time less than 25 sec and better dissolution than all other formulations releasing more than 80% of the drug after 20 minutes. Kinetic data reveals that the drug release follows best order by Higuchi model, followed by korsemeyer peppas, zero order and first order mechanisms. The results of accelerated stability studies as per ICH guidelines indicated that the tablet was stable as there were no any significant physical changes after the study.