Pharmacophore an International Research Journal
The present study involves preparation of alginate beads by microencapsulation and evaluation of various parameters like average size, swelling, mechanical stability and degradation of the beads. In the present work microcapsules were prepared by using Ionotropic gelation technique where gelation of anionic polysaccharide sodium alginate, the primary polymer of natural origin, was achieved with oppositely charged calcium ions, acting as counter ion, to form instantaneous micro particles. Sodium alginate was chosen as the material for preparation of the carrier matrix because it is a natural, biodegradable, biocompatible, non toxic orally and hydrophilic polymer suitable for the entrapment of water soluble drugs. In this study different sizes of needles (26 G, 24 G, 23 G, 22 G, 21 G, 20 G, and 18 G) and two different concentrations of sodium alginate (0.5 M and 1 M) were used for the preparation of empty alginate beads. From this, the needle having maximum accommodation (18 G) and lower concentration of sodium alginate (0.5 M) has been selected. The criterion behind this selection is degradation and swelling of the beads. The obtained results were encouraging. More the concentration of sodium alginate more is the stability of the bead. The degradation and swelling are less. This result can be used further for the development of in vivo procedures for determining the immunoenhancer activity of monocytes as well as vincristine sulphate.
