Vol. 4, Issue 7 (2015)

Author(s):
Bhaskar Rajveer, Ola Monika, Vyawahare Sunil, Patil Ph, Gorle Ashish, Gadhave Niteen

Abstract:
Extrusion spheronization is the widely used method by which the pellets are formulated. Pellets have certain advantages in the development of modified release dosage forms, Because of their regular shape and size they are suitable for coating and encapsulation processes, In addition, pellets may sometimes improve the bioavailability, reduce the risk of dose dumping and decrease local irritations in the gastrointestinal tract. Ideal pelletizing aid for this process is MCC as it possesses suitable rheological properties, cohesiveness and plasticity to yield strong and spherical particles. On the other hand MCC have reported some limitation like, drug adsorption on MCC fiber, prolonged drug release of poorly soluble drug and chemical incompatibility with specific drugs. This review focuses on materials that can totally or partially replace MCC in order to optimize the properties and the quality of pellets produced by the extrusion-spheronization that includes carrageenan, chitosan, pectinic acid, modified starches, sodium alginate, and β-cyclodextrin (CD) for their potential as alternative extrusion–spheronization aids to MCC. Alternative spheronizing aids were characterized and evaluated based on their intrinsic properties such as solubility, water absorption and retention capacity, rheology, surface properties, binding capacity, drug release, and pellets properties such as sphericity, porosity, and friability with respect to MCC. Conclusion: None of the polymer studied, proven that much of robustness in formulation of pellets identical to MCC. Some of the polymer discussed forms pellets in combination with MCC or require some plasticizer/lubricant/binder to form good quality of the pellets.