In-vitro comparative study of buccal mucoadhesive performance of different polymeric films

A comparison of the buccal mucoadhesive performance of different polymeric films was carried out using texture analyzer TA-XT2i. A large range of putative polymers differing in their chemical nature, molecular structure as well as hydration status was used. The used polymeric films were classified in rank order of buccal mucoadhesive performance, namely carbopol 971P > polycarbophil > Carrageenan type lambda > Sodium carboxymethylcellulose. Swelling state as well as tensile strength of the used polymeric films was used as measuring parameters of mucoadhesive interaction. These two approaches gave two opposite orders of performance between CMC and Carrrageenan type lambda after a contact time of 15 min. However the measurement of the viscoelastic moduli of the hydrogels gave the same ranking order of mucoadhesive performance after the same contact time. In reference to the previous works, we noted the importance of the molecular weight, the density of charges, the composition of which the chains of molecules are capable to arrange themselves in a network like form, thus those which are characterized by a tan delta < 1 (i.e network formation), are those which develop the best synergism with the mucus because of the reinforcement of an established link. The goal of this study is to assess the buccal mucoadhesive performance aiming to optimize the design of drug delivery via buccal mucoadhesive polymeric films (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.