AN INVITRO STUDY OF THE STEREOSELECTIVE DISSOLUTION OF (RAC)-VERAPAMIL FROM 2 SUSTAINED-RELEASE FORMULATIONS

The stereoselectivity of the in vitro dissolution of two commercially available sustained release formulations of rac-verapamil (rac-VER) has been investigated. The studies were carried out using a single-tablet continuous-flow apparatus and the concentrations of R- and S-VER released from the formulations were measured using enantioselective chromatography on a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) chiral stationary phase containing immobilized alpha1-acid glycoprotein (Chiral AGP-column). The data from this study demonstrates that the two formulations have different dissolution profiles and that the amount of drug dissolved was highly dependent on pH. In addition, between pH 3 and 8, the total cumulative amount of R-VER released was greater than the amount of S-VER and a statistically significant difference (P < 0.01) was detected at pH 6. The results of this study indicate that bioavailability and bioequivalency studies should consider the possibility of enantioselective dissolution when racemic compounds are present in the formulations.