Taste Masked of Eplerenone Using Egg box Method

Eplerenone is a selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist employed to manage hypertension, central serous retinopathy, and chronic heart failure. It has a highly bitter taste, which reduces patient compliance with the drug. The aim of this study was masking the very bitter taste of the eplerenone to improve patient compliance especially for geriatric patient. The medication was encapsulated utilizing the ionic gelation process, in which a 1% w/w sodium alginate solution was utilized to form egg box structures.Two different concentrations of CaCl2 (0.5.1%w/v) were used as cross-linkers, and different drug: polymer ratios were tested. The formulas were evaluated based on their physical appearance, percentage yield, percentage drug loading, and in-vitro taste masking. The optimum formula (F4)was selected and characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). Finally, this study suggests that the ionic gelation approach effectively masks the intense bitterness by lowering the drug's release through the mouth pH 6.8 within one minute. The optimum formula, F4, reduced eplerenone release to 3.2% as compared to pure eplerenone (57%), under similar conditions.