8DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINED RELEASE MATRIX TABLETS OF SALBUTAMOL SULPHATE USING DIFFERENT POLYMERSSalbutamol sulphate, is an anti-asthmatic, bronchodilator agent, and is a good candidate for sustained or controlled release formulations due to its short half-life. Several techniques are being employed to design the sustained or controlled drug delivery system. In the present study, an attempt has been made to develop sustained release Salbutamol sulphate matrix tablets. The matrix tablets were prepared by wet granulation method using different hydrophilic polymers viz hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC), sodium alginate (SA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Three (S 1-S 3) formulations were prepared and evaluated with respect to their physical parameters such as hardness, friability, dissolution, content uniformity and thickness. The prepared tablets formula exhibited weight and content uniformity within the acceptable limit and showed good mechanical properties (hardness and friability were maintained between 5.0-6.5 kg/cm 2 and 0.2-0.3%, respectively). The thickness and diameter of tablets were found to be within limits of In-house specifications. Among three formulations, HPMC (S 1) showed a drug release of about 22% at the 1 h and complete dissolution at 12 h, whereas formulation of sodium alginate (S2 ) and polyvinyl alcohol (S3) showed almost complete dissolution at 7 h and 8 h, respectively. From the above data, it is suggested that the formulation o f sustained release tablet of Salbutamol sulphate containing HPMC (S 1), takes longer duration for dissolution and greater sustained release, can be taken as an ideal or optimized formulation of sustained release matrix tablets for 12 h release as it fulfils all the requirements for sustained release tabletm.purushoth@yahoo.com Research212012Sustained drug delivery system,Salbutamol sulphate,Matrix tabletsM. Purushothaman,Ramaiyan Dhanapal,Subash Vijayakumar,J. Vijaya RatnaDepartment of Pharmaceutics, Vasavi Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vasavi Nagar, Kadappa, Andhra Pradesh, India-500 371,Department of Pharmaceutics, Kakatiya Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (KIPS), Pembarthi (V), Hasanparthy (M), Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, India-506 371,Department of Clinical pharmacy Service, MGM Hospital, Vaagdevi College of Pharmaceutical Sciences (VCOPS), Warangal, India-506 008,Pharmaceutical Technology Division, University College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India-530 003