43SWELLING AND DRUG RELEASE STUDIES OF ZIDOVUDINE MATRICES CONTAINING DIFFERENT GRADES OF HYDROXYPROPYL METHYLCELLULOSE POLYMERSThe object of the present study was to evaluate swelling and drug release from the sustained release zidovudine matrices containing combination of different grades of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose. Zidovudine, the first anti-HIV compound approved for clinical use is widely used for the treatment of AIDS either alone or in combination with other an tiviral agents. Matrices were prepared using combination of HPMCK4M, HPMCK15M and HPMCK100M. The Degree of Swelling and Percent water uptake were determined for the matrices containing different concentrations and combinations. The results indicate that swelling and release profiles were affected by concentration and viscosity grade of the polymer. When the amount of HPMC in the matrix is high, wetting improves and water uptake into matrices is enhanced. The higher amount of HPMC causes a greater degree of swelling this in turn reduces the drug release, as the diffusional path length of drug is now longer. Conversely, reduction in the amount of HPMC reduces the degree of swelling and the thickness of gel layer, this enables faster drug release. Higher viscosity grades swells to greater extent and has greater intrinsic water uptake property than that of the lower viscosity grades. Swelling studies reveals an inverse relationship between swelling and drug release in the sustained release zidovudine matricesmasheerak@yahoo.comResearch412014Sustained release,Matrices,HPMC,Swelling,ZidovudineMasheer Ahmed KhanSchool of Pharmacy, Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Takshshila Campus, Khandwa Road, Indore, 452001, India.