Formulation and Evaluation of Piperine Alginate Beads for Stomach-Specific Delivery

Abstract

Gastric irritation is one of the very common problems associated with various stomach related disorders. The present work was undertaken to formulate floating calcium alginate beads of Piperine for targeting the gastric mucosa and prolonging their gastric residence time. Piperine {[1-5-(1, 3)-benzodioxol-5-yl)-1-oxo-2, 4-pentadienyl]-piperidine} is an alkaloid responsible for the pungency of Piper longum and Piper nigrum. The pharmacological studies on piperine have revealed that this compound elicited diverse pharmacological activities; analgesic, anti-pyretic, anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer, anti-convulsant and CNS-depressant activities. The beads were prepared by suspending piperine in calcium alginate solution. The beads were prepared using calcium alginate and Piperine (1:1) and were evaluated. The mean diameter, drug loading and entrapment efficiency were evaluated. Thus, the present investigation aimed in formulating stomach specific drug delivery useful in the treatment of gastric problems.