Effect of Adjuvants on the Release Pattern of Suppositories Containing Paracetamol

There is a vast interest in the scientific community and drug industry to exploit various mucosal routes of delivering drugs, which are poorly absorbed after oral administration. Human rectum remains to be a relatively unexplored route of drug delivery despite its potential as a noninvasive route of drug administration. The presence of dense network of blood vessels has made the rectum an excellent route of drug delivery for both systemic and local effect. The present investigation was aimed to evaluating the possibility of using different surfactant i.e. Span 60 and 80, Tween 60 and 80 on the release rate of formulation for the development of rectal drug delivery system of paracetamol, an NSAIDs, to minimize the gastric irritation of the drug upon oral administration. Suppositories were formulated by fusion method & evaluated for their physicochemical characterization followed by in vitro evaluation through spectrophotometrically. Suppositories containing PEG 4000 with Tween 80 showed a better permeation of drug with faster dissolution rate in vitro than other formulations. The formulations were designed to overcome the risk of upper gastrointestinal complications such as stomach bleeding, and may cause kidney or liver damage. Suppositories are dosage forms for use in the unavoidable circumstances such as comatose, nauseous or vomiting.