The study was carried out to investigate the effect of channeling agents (sodium chloride or mannitol) on the release profiles of ibuprofen-matrix tablets formulated with a natural gum. Ibuprofen matrix granules were formed by wet granulation technique using khaya gum (15%w/w). Different channeling agents at varying concentrations were incorporated. Magnesium stearate (0.5%w/w) was incorporated into the ibuprofen-matrix granules prior to compression at a compression load of 30 (arbitrary unit on the load scale). Granules were evaluated for micromeritic properties while the formulated tablets were evaluated for tablet crushing strength, friability and invitro dissolution studies. The release data were subject to different release kinetics and their release mechanism was studied. All granules were free flowing with angle of repose ≤310. The densities were not affected by the presence of any of the channeling agents. Generally, the dissolution rate increased with increase in concentration of the channeling agents. The influence was slightly more with sodium chloride compared with mannitol. For instance, the dissolution rate (m∞/t∞) without channeling agents and with channeling agents at same concentration (200mg) were 3.59%h-1 (without channeling agent), 6.04%h-1 (with mannitol as channeling agent) and 7.76%h-1 (with sodium chloride as channeling agent. The mechanism of drug release from these formulations followed anomalous transport, often termed as first-order release since the diffusional release exponent (n) for all the formulations was between 0.45 and 0.89. The presence of channeling agents influenced the release of drugs from the matrix system studied. Therefore; controlled amount as well as appropriate channeling agents can be used to enhance and modulate the release of drugs from such systems studied.
