Influence of the Porosity of Cushioning Excipients on the Compaction of Coated Multi-Particulates.

This study was designed to investigate the impact of porous pellets as cushioning agent without issues related to segregation while tableting. Different drying techniques were applied to produce microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) pellets with various porosities. Sodium chloride was also added to the pellet formulation as a pore forming agent to generate a porous skeleton after production and aqueous extraction. The pellets fabricated were characterized for their porosity, crushing strength and yield pressure. Tablets were prepared using unlubricated pellets and their tensile strengths determined. Blends containing polymer-coated pellets and cushioning pellets of various porosities were compacted at different compaction pressures. The porous pellets exhibiting the best cushioning effect were used for MUPS tableting at different compression speeds with both gravity and force feeders. The findings from this study showed that pellet porosity was highest when drying was carried out in a freeze dryer, followed by fluid bed and least porous from the oven. There was an inverse relationship between pellet porosity and strength. The protective effect of cushioning pellets was mainly dependent on their porosity. The porosity of pellets manufactured by leaching NaCl from MCC-NaCl (1:1) pellets were 2.14-, 2.57- and 4.88-fold higher than that of MCC PH101 only pellets for oven, fluid bed and freeze dried pellets, respectively. Although the porosity of MCC PH101-NaCl (1:3) pellets was highes...
Source: European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Eur J Pharm Biopharm Source Type: research