98DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF HPMC AS A RATE CONTROLLING POLYMER IN TRANSDERMAL PATCHES CONTAINING TURMERIC (Curcuma longa) AS A MODEL DRUGThe main objective of the present study was to design and develop transdermal patches using methyl cellulose, HPMC, PVP and to study their effect on the rate of drug release. Transdermal patches were prepared using solvent casting method. Methyl cellulose, PVP and HPMC were used as the film forming polymers and ethyl cellulose as the backing membrane. Ethanol was used as the solvent and Propylene glycol was used as the plasticizer. Prepared patches were evaluated in terms of their weight, thickness, swelling index etc. Percentage of drug content in all the patches were also calculated. In vitro drug release studies was carried out using USP type I (basket) apparatus. All the formulations showed good characteristics upon invitro evaluations. From the drug release profile, it was found that formulation F6 showed better sustained drug release compared to other formulations. Among all the six formulations, it can be concluded that HPMC serves as a good sustained release polymer at a concentration of 600mg.sabamaanvizhi@yahoo.co.in Research612016Curcuma longa,Transdermal patches,solvent casting method,In vitro drug release studiesSaba Maanvizhi,Addepalli Sandhya,Sayan BhattacharjeeDepartment of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Sri Ramachandra University, Porur, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.,Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Sri Ramachandra University, Porur, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.,Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Sri Ramachandra University, Porur, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.