Formulation and Characterization of Etoricoxib Suppositories for the Management of Hemorrhoids

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this research was to formulate and evaluate etoricoxib suppositories to improve patient compliance and drug efficacy in the management of hemorrhoids.
METHODS: The suppositories were prepared using glycerin and gelatin. The prepared suppositories were evaluated with respect to content uniformity, homogenization, hardness, weight variation, disintegration time, texture analysis, and in vitro drug release studies.
RESULTS: The 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 ± to 1.31 ± 0.01 g, 11.00 to 19.05 min, and 66.98 ± 0.86 to 80.76 ± 3.6%, 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. The drug release from all the formulations of suppositories was supported by the zero-order, first-order, and Higuchi plot except SB4. The mechanism of drug release from all formulations of suppositories was fickian diffusion-based. The SB2 results were found to be more appropriate compared to the other batches.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: These results confirm that the prepared formulation has a future scope and should be further explored in in vitro cell line and animal studies.