Evaluation of Hydroxypropylated starches as excipients in diclofenac sodium tablet formulations

Abstract

Background

• Recent studies are focused on innovative ways to use biomaterials as pharmaceutical excipients.
• Starch is commonly adopted by virtue of being inert, biodegradable, cost effective and biocompatible, etc.
• Starches from maize, wheat, potatoes and cassava are predominantly used in pharmacy.
• Modifications improve starch properties such as stability, heat resistance, water holding capacity, etc [1,2].
• Hydroxypropylation (HP) involves substituting the hydroxyl component of starch with hydroxypropyl moiety [3].
• HP improves thermal characteristics, enzymatic digestibility, etc.
• The HP products have frequently been adopted as stabilizers, emulsifiers, and binders, etc [4].
• The local and abundant availability of starches and its use as an excipient already make it a viable candidate for modification.
• The development of modified starches as drug release retardant excipient is expected to be beneficial to local drug manufacturing