New Natural Marine Antacid Drug from Cuttlebone

Antacids are the most commonly used medications for fast symptomatic relief of gastric disorders. Because of adverse effects, low efficiency and the high cost of some chemical antacids, identifying a natural medicine with high efficiency and low cost seems useful. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to prepare antacid tablets from Cuttlefish bone and assessment of its antacid properties.

24 different formulations of cuttlefish bone were prepared by direct compression using different fillers (starch, cellulose, lactose, and mixture of those) in different ratios of the drug. Characterization of powders and tablets was done on all formulations and marketed dosage forms (calcium carbonate and Al-Mg).

Weight uniformity, hardness, and friability of all formulations were in acceptable range. Tablets prepared by calcined cuttlebone disintegrated in longer time due to their higher hardness which were mostly higher than 5 Kg. Also, disintegration time of formulations 50-50 (lower dose of cuttlebone) was less than other tablets (2 minutes or less). Results of antacid capacity showed that formulations 90-10 and 80-20 raise the acidic pH of the medium above 7.5, which were the same as or more than the capacity of the marketed tablets.