The current study was aimed to formulate and assess fast dissolving tablet (FDT) of a combined oral dosage form of paracetamol (PCM), an antipyretic and chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM), an antihistamine in resolving the symptoms of hay fever, allergy, and the common cold. Mounting evidences suggest that combination of both the drugs can be used for the management of pain and fever in cold and flu conditions.

 The combination was further added with either of three super disintegrating agents such as cross carmellose sodium (CCS), sodium starch glycollate (SSG) and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) at different concentrations in order to improve the disintegration and bioavailability of the drugs. The direct compression method was used to formulate FDT which was further analysed for hardness, weight variation, wetting time, friability, disintegration time, in-vitro dissolution study, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and stability studies. A novel spectrophotometric method was introduced for simultaneous appraisal of PCM and CPM in FDT.

The results indicated that formulation containing CCS out of the six formulations, was reported as the best formulation because of best wetting time (26 sec), good water absorption ratio (81%), fastest disintegration time (20 sec) and faster drug release within 25 min. There was no evidence of any alteration in drug release upon storage on different temperature and humidity, as found by stability studies.

Thus, based on these observations, it can be inferred that FDT of a combined oral dosage form of PCM and CPM can be effectively used in the management of pain and fever in cold and flu conditions.

Source: Malang M, Jain N, Koshta A, Malviya S, Kharia A. formulation and evaluation of fast dissolving tablet of paracetamol and chlorpheniramine maleate. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research. January 2020; 26: 1232-1242. Available at: https://ijpsr.com/bft-article/formulation-and-evaluation-of-fast-dissolving-tablet-of-paracetamol-and-chlorpheniramine-maleate/