LAUSR

Abstract The present research work describes the systematic development and characterization of novel gastroretentive drug delivery system containing superporous hydrogel composites for improving the bioavailability and antihyperlipidemic activity. The superporous hydrogels of fluvastatin exhibited swelling property in presence of the gastric fluid and retains inside the stomach to provide controlled drug release action. These hydrogels were systematically developed and optimized using Box-Behnken design, which includes the concentration of glutaraldehyde (X1), Span 80 (X2) and polyvinyl alcohol (X3) as the independent variables, while swelling ratio (Y1) and in vitro drug release (Y2) were taken as the dependent variables. The prepared hydrogel formulations were also evaluated for density, porosity and void fraction as their physical properties. DSC and FT-IR study was performed to analyze the drug-excipient interactions. SEM imaging was performed for the morphological characterization of the prepared superporous hydrogels. In vivo pharmacokinetic study was conducted for evaluating the drug absorption and elimination parameters, while the pharmacodynamic study was performed for evaluating the antihyperlipidemic activity of the superporous hydrogel formulation. Overall, the studies indicated that optimized superporous hydrogel formulation with improved biopharmaceutical performance.