polyethylene glycol + diltiazem

A combination of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and diltiazem that has been studied in two main contexts: 1) as a therapeutic combination for treating anal fissures in children, where PEG serves as a laxative and diltiazem as a topical calcium channel blocker; and 2) in pharmaceutical formulation research, where PEG is used in matrix systems to control the release of diltiazem hydrochloride. ## Therapeutic Use In the treatment of anal fissures in children, a clinical trial compared the efficacy of polyethylene glycol (PEG) alone versus PEG combined with topical diltiazem. The study found that PEG alone was associated with similar improvement in anal fissure symptoms compared to the combination of PEG and diltiazem[1]. This suggests that adding diltiazem to PEG treatment might not provide additional benefits for this specific condition. ## Pharmaceutical Formulation From a pharmaceutical formulation perspective, researchers have studied the combination of polyethylene glycol (PEG) with polyethylene oxide (PEO) as a matrix for sustained release of diltiazem hydrochloride. One study evaluated the feasibility of using these polymeric matrices for extended release of highly water-soluble drugs like diltiazem[3]. The research found that PEO/PEG matrices alone could only extend diltiazem release for about 6 hours, but adding a counter polymer (cross-linked carboxyvinyl polymer) to the formulation could achieve sustained release for 24 hours or longer[3]. Another study aimed to design controlled porosity osmotic pump (CPOP) tablets to achieve controlled delivery of diltiazem hydrochloride for up to 12 hours, investigating the effect of coating thickness and polyethylene glycol's molecular weight on drug release[6]. ## Drug Interactions According to drug interaction databases, there are no significant interactions reported specifically between diltiazem and polyethylene glycol (often found in laxative products like MiraLAX)[2][5]. This suggests that the combination may be relatively safe from an interaction perspective.