Taste masking of naproxen sodium granules by fluid-bed coating

Taste-masking methods in multiparticulate dosage forms with a focus on poorly soluble drugs

In the past, the administration of medicines for children mainly involved changes to adult dosage forms, such as crushing tablets or opening capsules. However, these methods often led to inconsistent dosing, resulting in under- or overdosing. To address this problem and promote adherence, numerous initiatives, and regulatory frameworks have been developed to develop more child-friendly dosage forms. In recent years, multiparticulate dosage forms such as mini-tablets, pellets, and granules have gained popularity. However, a major challenge that persists is effectively masking the bitter taste of drugs in such formulations. This review therefore provides a brief overview of the current state of the art in taste masking techniques, with a particular focus on taste masking by film coating. Methods for evaluating the effectiveness of taste masking are also discussed and commented on. Another important issue that arises frequently in this area is achieving sufficient dissolution of poorly water-soluble drugs. Since the simultaneous combination of sufficient dissolution and taste masking is particularly challenging, the second objective of this review is to provide a critical summary of studies dealing with multiparticulate formulations that are tackling both of these issues.

Development of taste masking microcapsules containing azithromycin by fluid bed coating for powder for suspension and in vivo evaluation

This research aims to develop bitter taste masking microcapsules containing azithromycin by a simpler and familiar method, fluid-bed coating technology, in comparison with Zithromax®. Cores of microcapsules, azithromycin microparticles, were prepared by fluid-bed granulation, then taste-masking polymer was covered on by fluid-bed coating technique. Eudragit L100, Eudragit RL100, ethyl cellulose in single and combined with Eudragit L100, Eudragit E100 were used as taste-masking polymers. The obtained microcapsules were characterized by taste masking ability, in-vitro release, SEM, coating thickness and coating efficiency. Combination of ethyl cellulose and Eudragit E100 (3:1) in coating thickness of 45.13 ± 2.12% w/w prevent azithromycin release from microcapsules below bitter taste threshold (1.78 ± 1.17 μg/ml). Bioavailability of powders containing azithromycin microcapsules and pH modulators (50mg Na₃PO₄ and 35mg Mg(OH)₂) was not significantly different from the reference product (Zithromax®, Pfizer) in the rabbit model (p > 0.05). These results support the possibility of developing a generic product containing azithromycin.

An Overview of Taste-Masking Technologies: Approaches, Application, and Assessment Methods

It is well-known that plenty of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) inherently possess an unpleasant taste, which influences the acceptance of patients, especially children. Therefore, manufacturing taste-masked dosage forms has attracted a lot of attention. This review describes in detail the taste-masking technologies based on the difference in the taste transmission mechanism which is currently available. In particular, the review highlights the application of various methods, with a special focus on how to screen the appropriate masking technology according to the properties of API. Subsequently, we overviewed how to assess taste-masking efficacy, guiding researchers to rationally design taste-masking formulations.

Role of Nanotechnology in Taste Masking: Recent Updates

One of the important parameters in the case of dosage form is taste. Most of the drugs available in oral dosage form have an unpleasant taste which leads to patient incompliance and affects the success ratio of products in the market. Geriatric and paediatric patients suffer more with the bitter taste of medicines. According to the studies reported, it is found that 50% of the population have the problem swallowing tablets, especially the pediatric and geriatric population. Masking the taste of bitter drugs has become necessary in the pharmaceutical field and increasing interest of researchers to develop various methods for masking the bitter taste of drugs. Five major tastes, felt by our tongue are salt, sour, sweet, bitter, and umami. When the drug dissolves with saliva, drug molecules interact with taste receptors present on the tongue and give taste sensations. Although, many solid oral dosage forms like pills, and tablets have an additional advantage of masking and encapsulation of bitter taste drugs; however, they might not be effective for children because they may or may not swallow pills or tablets. There are various other methods that mask the bitter taste of drugs such as the addition of sweeteners and flavouring agents, granulation, coating, inclusion complexes, extrusion method, ion-exchange resins, etc, discussed in the first section of the article. The second part of this article consists of various nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems that were fabricated by researchers to mask the bitter taste of drugs. A brief of recent literature on various nanocarriers that were fabricated or developed for taste masking has been discussed in this part. A better understanding of these methods will help researchers and pharmaceutical industries to develop novel drug delivery systems with improved taste masking properties.

Research on Technology of Medicinal Functional Food

Particle coating is one of the oldest pharmaceutical processes that is still in existence. It is the process of applying a thin polymer-based film to a particle or granule containing the active pharmaceutical ingredient. The widely used methods for particle coating are sugar coating, film coating, and enteric coating and the techniques are pan coating, fluidized bed coating, and compression coating. Sugar coating was the earlier coating method, and it was gradually replaced by film coating because it required skilled manipulation. With the technology developing, enteric coating draws more attention. Pan coating is the most classic coating technique, which is applied to sugar coating, film coating and enteric coating. Fluid bed coating is used for a mixture of multiple materials and medicines and keeps the bioavailability high. Compression coating can avoid the harmful effects of moisture and high temperature, while it requires highly accurate machinery.

In-vitro and in-vivo evaluation of taste-masked ibuprofen formulated in oral dry emulsions

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to develop a pediatric oral preparation for ibuprofen.

SIGNIFICANCE

Ibuprofen is widely used for defervescence in children, but medication compliance is poor due to its bitter taste. Dry emulsions possess good stability and can be transported and stored in solid form; they can be dispersed into liquid emulsions with water and easily administered to children.

METHODS

In this study, a dry emulsion excipient was prepared by spray drying: a mixture of orange peel and corn oils (3:7, w/w) was used as the oil phase and solvent for ibuprofen; gum arabic and gum tragacanth were chosen as emulsifiers; and maltodextrin was used as a solid carrier.

RESULTS

The particle sizes of the liquid and reconstituted emulsions were 5.75 µm and 6.11 µm, respectively; the average particle size distribution of the dry emulsion powder was 8.13 µm; scanning electron microscopy showed that the dry emulsion powder was composed of evenly distributed smooth spheres. At a drug loading of 36.52 ± 1.15 mg/g, 90% of ibuprofen was released from the dry emulsion excipient within 30 min. Sensory evaluations using human volunteers, rats, and an electronic tongue demonstrated that the emulsion had a taste-masking effect on ibuprofen. It was further corroborated by in vivo studies using a rat model that highlighted a 1.76-fold increase in ibuprofen absorption when the drug was administered as an emulsion compared with granules.

CONCLUSIONS

These results indicate that the dry emulsion for taste-masking is promising and valuable in the development of ibuprofen for pediatrics.

Optimization of taste-masking on ibuprofen microspheres with selected structure features

The microsphere was a primary particulate system for taste-masking with unique structural features defined by production process. In this article, ibuprofen lipid microspheres of octadecanol and glycerin monostearate were prepared to mask the undesirable taste of ibuprofen via three kinds of spray congealing processes, namely, air-cooling, water-cooling and citric acid solution-cooling. The stereoscopic and internal structures of ibuprofen microspheres were quantitatively analyzed by synchrotron radiation X-ray micro-computed tomography (SR-µCT) to establish the relationship between the preparation process and microsphere architectures. It was found that the microstructure and morphology of the microspheres were significantly influenced by preparation processes as the primary factors to determine the release profiles and taste-masking effects. The sphericity of ibuprofen microspheres congealed in citric acid solution was higher than that of other two and its morphology was more regular than that being congealed in air or distilled water, and the contact angles between congealing media and melted ibuprofen in octadecanol and glycerin monostearate well demonstrated the structure differences among microspheres of three processes which controlled the release characteristics of the microspheres. The structure parameters like porosity, sphericity, and radius ratio from quantitative analysis were correlated well with drug release behaviors. The results demonstrated that the exterior morphology and internal structure of microspheres had considerable influences on the drug release behaviors as well as taste-masking effects.

Development and evaluation of taste masked dry syrup formulation of potassium chloride

Potassium chloride (KCl) syrup is widely used for the oral treatment of the hypokalemia. However, it is associated with unacceptable taste. In the present study, we sought to develop a palatable and easy to reconstitute KCl dry syrup as a commercially viable alternative to currently available KCl syrup. We explored the potential of Eudragit E100 as a taste-masking polymer to coat and improve the palatability of the KCl. With the help of fluid bed processor, KCl was coated with the solution containing varying amounts of Eudragit E100 (4, 6, 10 and 15%). Coating with 10% polymer solution enabled optimal fluid bed processing, higher entrapment of the KCl (81%) and better in vitro release profile in 0.1 N HCl and pH 6.8 phosphate buffer. A dry syrup formulation containing Eudragit E100 coated KCl with good physical and chemical stability in dry and reconstituted state was developed. The palatability of the optimized formulation and commercially available KCl syrup was evaluated using the Electronic Taste Sensing Machine. The developed formulation showed~ 2-fold better taste-masking compared to the commercial KCl syrup. Thus, present investigation describes the development of an effective alternative to the current KCl syrup that can offer better palatability, stability and patient compliance.

Patient-centered drug delivery and its potential applications for unmet medical needs

Pharmaceutical dosage forms address diverse key components but satisfying unmet patient needs to enhance patient adherence is a major challenge. The desired design of patient-centered drug products should be based on characteristics of various components, such as patients, disease, routes of administration, drug delivery technologies and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Understanding of targeting patients and their physiological and biological environments is pivotal for developing suitable patient-centered drug products. In this review, key components of an ideal drug delivery system were considered. Then, stepwise approaches for designing patient-centered drug products were suggested. Finally, various case studies are also presented and considered to develop models of patient-centered drug products.

Mechanical microencapsulation: The best technique in taste masking for the manufacturing scale - Effect of polymer encapsulation on drug targeting

Drug taste masking is a crucial process for the preparation of pediatric and geriatric formulations as well as fast dissolving tablets. Taste masking techniques aim to prevent drug release in saliva and at the same time to obtain the desired release profile in gastrointestinal tract. Several taste masking methods are reported, however this review has focused on a group of promising methods; complexation, encapsulation, and hot melting. The effects of each method on the physicochemical properties of the drug are described in details. Furthermore, a scoring system was established to evaluate each process using recent published data of selected factors. These include, input, process, and output factors that are related to each taste masking method. Input factors include the attributes of the materials used for taste masking. Process factors include equipment type and process parameters. Finally, output factors, include taste masking quality and yield. As a result, Mechanical microencapsulation obtained the highest score (5/8) along with complexation with cyclodextrin suggesting that these methods are the most preferable for drug taste masking.

Non-human tools for the evaluation of bitter taste in the design and development of medicines: a systematic review

Taste evaluation is a crucial factor for determining acceptance of medicines by patients. The human taste panel test is the main method used to establish the overall palatability and acceptability of a drug product to a patient towards the end of development. Non-human in vitro and in vivo taste-evaluation tools are very useful for pre-formulation, quality control and screening of formulations. These non-human taste assessment tools can be used to evaluate all aspects of taste quality. The focus of this review is bitterness because it is a key aspect of taste in association with the development of medicines. In this review, recent in vitro (analytical) and in vivo (non-human) tools are described for the assessment of the bitter taste of medicines. Their correlations with human taste data are critically discussed. The potential for their use in early screening of the taste of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to expedite paediatric formulation development is also considered.

Formulation approaches to pediatric oral drug delivery: benefits and limitations of current platforms

Introduction: Most conventional drug delivery systems are not acceptable for pediatric patients as they differ in their developmental status and dosing requirements from other subsets of the population. Technology platforms are required to aid the development of age-appropriate medicines to maximize patient acceptability while maintaining safety, efficacy, accessibility and affordability.

Areas covered: The current approaches and novel developments in the field of age-appropriate drug delivery for pediatric patients are critically discussed including patient-centric formulations, administration devices and packaging systems.

Expert opinion: Despite the incentives provided by recent regulatory modifications and the efforts of formulation scientists, there is still a need for implementation of pharmaceutical technologies that enable the manufacture of licensed age-appropriate formulations. Harmonization of endeavors from regulators, industry and academia by sharing learning associated with data obtained from pediatric investigation plans, product development pathways and scientific projects would be the way forward to speed up bench-to-market age appropriate formulation development. A collaborative approach will benefit not only pediatrics, but other patient populations such as geriatrics would also benefit from an accelerated patient-centric approach to drug delivery.