Development and evaluation of propranolol hydrochloride transdermal patches by using hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer

Propranolol hydrochloride is a non-selective beta-adrenergic blocking agent and clinically used in angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia and in hypertension. It inhibits response to adrenergic stimuli by competitively blocking beta- adrenergic receptors in the myocardium, bronchial and vascular smooth muscles. The drug has been reported for potential administration through transdermal route. Present investigation was carried out to study the effect of different proportions of ethyl cellulose and polyvinyl pyrrolidone, a hydrophobic and a hydrophilic polymer respectively, on the permeation profile of the drug across the rat abdomen for the development of a reproducible transdermal therapeutic system of propranolol hydrochloride. Transdermal films were prepared using ten different combinations of the two polymers by solvent evaporation technique. Polyvinyl alcohol was used to prepare the backing membrane and dibutyl phthalate as plasticizer. Several physicochemical parameters like moisture content, moisture loss, thickness, film folding endurance, tensile strength and film elongation were studied. For all the formulations, skin permeation of the drug through rat abdomen was studied using Keshary-Chien diffusion cell. Formulations with highest proportion of polyvinyl pyrrolidone shows faster release over a day's span whereas increasing proportion of ethyl cellulose produces a prolonged regimen of sustained drug delivery through transdermal route for a period of more than a day. The present study has demonstrated the potential of the fabricated matrix films for prolonged release of propranolol hydrochloride.