Central composite design for the formulation and optimization of a multi-unit potential colonic drug delivery system of budesonide for ulcerative colitis.

Budesonide is a potent glucocorticoid with high affinity for the glucocorticoid receptor, which is used for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases. Current oral formulations of budesonide present low efficacy against ulcerative colitis because of the premature drug release in the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract. The objective of this study was to develop a colon specific delivery system for budesonide to increase the efficacy in the treatment of ulcerative colitis using a statistical procedure.

Box-Behnken experimental design in the development of pectin-compritol ATO 888 compression coated colon targeted drug delivery of mesalamine.

The aim of this study was to investigate the combined influence of 3 independent variables in the compression coated tablet of mesalamine for ulcerative colitis. A 3-factor, 3-level Box-Behnken design was used to derive a second order polynomial equation and construct contour plots to predict responses. The independent variables selected were: percentage of polymers (pectin and compritol ATO 888) in compression coating (X(1)), coating mass (X(2)) and coating force (X(3)).