Sustained release matrix pellets of the freely water soluble drug, betahistine dihydrochloride (BH), were prepared using freeze pelletization technique. Different waxes and lipids (cetyl alcohol, beeswax, glyceryl tripalmitate (GTP) and glyceryl tristearate) were evaluated for the preparation of matrix pellets. A D-optimal design was employed for the optimization and to explore the effect of drug loading (X(1)), concentration of lipophilic surfactant (X(2)), concentration of co-surfactant (X(3)) and wax type (X(4)) on the release extent of the drug from matrix pellets. The entrapment efficiency (Y(1)), pellet diameter (Y(2)), and the percentage drug released at given times were selected as dependent variables. Results revealed a significant impact of all independent variables on drug release from the formulated pellets. The lipophilic surfactant significantly increased both the entrapment efficiency and the in vitro drug release and significantly decreased the pellet size. The optimized BH-loaded pellets were composed of 19.95% drug loading, 9.95% Span(®) 80 (surfactant), 0.25% Capmul(®) (co-surfactant) using glyceryl tripalmitate as a matrix former. The release profiles of the drug from hard gelatin capsule containing optimized pellets equivalent to 32 mg BH was similar to that of target release model for once-daily administration based on similarity factor. It could be concluded that a promising once-daily capsule containing sustained release pellets of BH was successfully designed.
