Introduction:

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is one of the most prev-alent gastric disorders and is defined
as a condition in which thegastric and duodenal contents reflux back into the esophaguscausing
troublesome symptoms and complications such as heart-burn and acid regurgitation. GORD has
proven to have a substantial burden on public healthstrategies as its treatment is costly and
symptoms can affect thequality of life of patients.nonerosive reflux disease(NERD) and erosive reflux
disease. The former class refers to refluxwithout the presence of esophageal mucosal damage, and
the latterclass refers to reflux with the presence of esophageal mucosal dam-age (erosive
esophagitis), and can potentially lead to the develop-ment of Barrett’sesophagus. ypically, reflux of
gastric con-tents is prevented by the lower esophageal sphincter. whichacts as a one-way system by
allowing ingested liquids and solidsinto the stomach while preventing the reflux of gastric contents
into esophagus. Factors that are associated with an increased risk of GORD linkmainly to genetics,
lifestyle and environment.The prevalence of GORD is higher in white individuals in comparison to the
black community. ORD prevalence in obese individuals is also greatercompared with those with a
normal body mass index.3Moreover,smoking and the consumption of alcohol, coffee, and
carbonateddrinks are considered as risk factors for GORD.Nonpharmacological treatment
options include lifestyle modifications including changes in diet,sleeping posture, and weight
reduction.Pharmacological inter-ventions for the treatment of GORD can be divided into two sub-
types: non-raft formulations and raft formulations. The mostcommonly adopted therapy for the
treatment of GORD involvesthe use of antacids, histamine-2-receptor antagonists ,proton pump
inhibitors . The most rational approach tomanage GORD is to minimize the exposure of the
esophagus toacid reflux. Therapeutic agents, like H2RAs and PPIs, suppress theacid production and
antacids neutralize gastric acid; hence, interfer-ing with the normal function of gastric acid
In such cases,raft-forming anti-reflux formulations can potentially be an ideal therapeutic choice,
exhibiting a unique nonsystemic mechanism forprotection of the esophageal mucosa aft-forming
systems con-tain at least one or more gel or raft-forming agents along with alka-line bicarbonates and
carbonates, sometimes in combination with an acid neutraliser.

Methods:
This systematic review was performed in accordance with the PRISMA
2009.Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses
statement,that was published in 2009, was designed to help systematic reviewers
transparently report why the review was done, what the authors did, and what they
found and this study Extracted data from selected studies comprised the agent used
for raft formation, a summary of aims, and conclusion in the case of research articles.
The data extracted from patents included the agent used for raft formation, and a
summary of claims and the invention.

Results:

Conclusion:
Alginates being by far the most widely studied. A significant number of studies and
patents dating back to 1970s have led to alginates being established as the leading raft
forming agent used in raft-forming anti-reflux formulations today.their current use is
considerably limited as they are not widely studied specifically for GORD. Moreover,
it can be concluded from this comprehensive systematic review that a thorough
assessment of raft-forming formulations, type and concentration of used active and
inactive materials and different formulations factors like viscosity and PH level are
essential for the development of successful anti-reflux raft forming formulations.