Formation development and evaluation of microsphere of sulfasalazine for the treatment inflammatory bowel diseases

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic relapsing and remitting inflammatory disorder of the small intestine and colon. IBD includes ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), and it is a main reason for the expansion of colon cancer, referred to as colitis-associated cancer (CAC). Oral colon-targeted microsphere based drug delivery system containing sulfasalazine was prepared, optimized and characterized. The microspheres were effectively prepared by simple emulsification phase-separation technique followed by cross-linking. The formulations were optimized on the basis of drug: polymer ratio, stirring speed, concentration of glutaraldehyde. The prepared microspheres were characterized on the basis of morphology, entrapment efficiency, particle size and in-vitro release. Keywords: Microspheres, Sulfasalazine, Inflammatory bowel disease, Colon-targeted, Chitosan