Available online at www.ijpsdr.com 77 International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Drug Research 2018; 10(2): 77-84 Research Article ISSN: 0975-248X CODEN (USA): IJPSPP Entacapone – Based Floating Microspheres by Ionotropic Gelation Technique-Morphology and Release Characteristics Suggala Ajay * , Gande Suresh Mewar University, NH-79, Gangrar, Chhitorgarh-312901, Rajasthan, India Copyright © 2018 Suggala Ajay et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. ABSTRACT The main objective of the present investigation was to develop gastro retentive floating microspheres for Entacapone. These are prepared by ionotropic gelation method with an aim of increasing the gastric residence time and for controlled release. The polymeric mixture of Sodium alginate and HPMC K4, was used as polymers. Sodium bicarbonate was used as the gas-forming gent. Prepared Microspheres were characterized for the Micromeretic properties, incorporation efficiency, buoyancy test, SEM analysis, FTIR, and in vitro diffusion studies. The diffusion studies were carried out in 0.1N HCl and the results were applied to various kinetic models. Among the total 14 formulations F14 was optimized. The % yield of F14 formulation was found to be 98.03%. Based on optical microscopy, the particle size was 65.23 ± 0.05µm. The % buoyancy, % entrapment efficiency and swelling index of F14 formulation was 98.16%, 97.54% and 97.67%, respectively. The cumulative % drug release of F14 formulation was 97.99 ± 5.05% in 12 h when compared with marketed product 95.12 ± 5.01 in 1 h. SEM studies showed the particles were in spherical shape. Hence the formulated and prepared floating Entacapone microspheres may establish to be potential candidate for safe and effective sustained drug delivery and improve the bioavailability in the management of Parkinson’s disease. Keywords: Entacapone, Floating microspheres, SEM, Release order kinetics. DOI: 10.25004/IJPSDR.2018.100205 Int. J. Pharm. Sci. Drug Res. 2018; 10(2): 77-84 *Corresponding author: Mr. Suggala Ajay Address: Mewar University, NH-79, Gangrar, Chhitorgarh-312901, Rajasthan, India Tel.: +91-9959199492 E-mail : ajay.suggala@gmail.com Relevant conflicts of interest/financial disclosures: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. Received: 09 February, 2018; Revised: 24 February, 2018; Accepted: 26 February, 2018; Published: 25 March, 2018 INTRODUCTION The floating drug delivery system was first described by Davis (1968). Several approaches are currently used to prolong gastric retention time. These include floating drug delivery systems. FDDS are known as Hydro dynamically balanced systems or low-density system that has been made developed to increase the gastric transit time of drug. [1] Since the last three decades many drug molecules formulated as Gastroretentive Drug Delivery System (GRDDS) have been patented keeping in view its commercial success. Oral controlled release (CR) dosage forms have been extensively used