Formulation and Characterization of Etoricoxib Suppositories for the Management of Hemorrhoids.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to formulate and evaluate etoricoxib suppositories to improve patient compliance and drug efficacy in the management of hemorrhoids.

Materials and methods: Suppositories were prepared using glycerin and gelatin. The prepared suppositories were evaluated for content uniformity, homogenization, hardness, weight variation, disintegration time, texture analysis, and in vitro drug release.

Results: Hardness, weight variation, disintegration time, and content uniformity values were found in the range of 4.00±0.50 to 7.50±0.50 kg/cm³, 1.20±0.03 to 1.31±0.01 g, 11.00 to 19.05 min, and 66.98±0.86 to 80.76±3.60%, respectively. The SB3 gave 91.47±17.74% drug release in 6 h, whereas the SB1 gave 99.08±3.40% drug release in 12 h. Drug release from all formulations of suppositories was supported by zero-order, first-order, and Higuchi plots, except for SB4. The mechanism of drug release from all suppositories was fickian diffusion-based. The SB2 results were found to be more appropriate than those of the other batches.

Conclusion: These results confirm that the prepared formulation has a future scope and should be further explored in in vitro cell lines and animal studies.