ABSTRACT: Abstract Effective clinical utilization of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as diclofenac sodium (DS) is significantly limited by their ulcerogenic potential and poor bioavailability after oral administration, thus necessitating the need for a better carrier to minimize these obvious limitations. The objective of this study was to evaluate Eudragit® RS100/RL100 microspheres formulated by the solvent-evaporation technique for improved delivery of diclofenac. Three batches of (DF1, DF2 and DF3) microspheres were prepared using different ratios of Eudragit RS-100 and RL-100 polymers based on the solvent-evaporation method. The microspheres were characterized based on morphological properties, particle size analysis and encapsulation efficiency (EE%). In vitro release of DS was investigated in both 0.1 N HCl (pH 1.2) and phosphate-buffered saline (pH 7.4), while anti-inflammatory studies were evaluated in the rat model. Maximum EE% of 86.61 ± 0.11, 88.14 ± 0.16 and 85.50 ± 0.21 was obtained for DF1, DF2 and DF3, respectively. Discrete, smooth and brownish microspheres of size range 437 ± 0.01-479 ± 0.21 µm were obtained. Release of DS from the formulation depends on the polymer ratio. All the batches exhibited good anti-inflammatory activities. Microsphere formulations based on Eudragit® polymers would likely offer a reliable and alternative means of delivering DS orally.
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