Study on Mucoadhesive Buccal Drug Delivery System

The chapter presents a comprehensive study on the formulation and evaluation of mucoadhesive buccal tablets of terbutaline sulphate, aimed at improving drug bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy in asthma management. Conventional oral drug delivery systems, although widely used, suffer from limitations such as first-pass hepatic metabolism, enzymatic degradation, and fluctuating plasma drug levels. These challenges are particularly significant for drugs like terbutaline sulphate, which has low oral bioavailability and a short biological half-life, necessitating frequent dosing.To overcome these limitations, the buccal route is explored as a promising alternative. Buccal drug delivery allows direct absorption of the drug through the highly vascularised mucosal lining into systemic circulation, thereby bypassing first-pass metabolism and gastrointestinal degradation. The incorporation of mucoadhesive polymers further enhances this system by prolonging the residence time of the dosage form at the site of absorption. Mucoadhesion occurs through mechanisms such as hydrogen bonding, electrostatic interactions, and polymer chain interpenetration with mucin.