A Comprehensive Review on Gastro-Retentive Floating Drug Delivery Systems

In recent years scientific and technological advancements have been made in the research and development of novel drug delivery systems by overcoming physiological troubles such as short gastric residence times and unpredictable gastric emptying times. Floating drug delivery systems are designed to prolong the gastric residence time after oral administration, at particular site and controlling the release of drug especially useful for achieving controlled plasma level as well as improving bioavailability. Floating drug delivery systems are the systems which are retained in the stomach for a longer period of time and there by improve the bioavailability of drug. The single unit dosage forms have the disadvantage of a release all or nothing during emptying process while the multiple unit particulate system pass through the GIT to avoid the vagaries of gastric emptying and thus release the drug more uniformly. The uniform distribution of these multiple unit dosage forms along the GIT could result in more reproducible drug absorption and reduced risk of local irritation. The purpose of designing multiple-unit dosage form is to develop a reliable formulation that has all the advantages of a single-unit form and also is devoid of any of the above mentioned disadvantages of single unit formulations. This review explains briefly about advantages, disadvantages, mechanism, types, factors, evaluation and application of these systems.