ORAL DISINTEGRATION TABLETS

INTRODUCTION:
Tablet is the most popular among all dosage forms existing today because : of its convenience of self administration, compactness and easy manufacturing,etc

OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this study was to prepare fast dissolving tablets which can rapidly disintegrate in the saliva using taste-masked granules of drugs.

DEFINITION:
A fast-dissolving drug delivery system, in most cases, is a tablet that dissolves or disintrigrants in the oral cavity without the need of water or chewing. Most fast-dissolving delivery system films must include substances to mask the taste of the active ingredient.

This masked active ingredient is then swallowed by the patient's saliva along with the soluble and insoluble excipients. These are also called melt-in-mouth tablets, repimelts, porous tablets, oro-dispersible, quick dissolving or rapid disintegrating tablets.

(MDDDS) are a new generation of formulations which combine the advantages of both liquid and conventional tablet formulations. offer added advantages over both the traditional dosage forms.

They provide the convenience of a tablet formulation and also allow the ease of swallowing provided by a liquid formulation. MDDDS offer the luxury of much more accurate dosing than the primary alternative, oral liquids. This segment of formulation is especially designed for dysphagic, geriatric, pediatric, bed-ridden, travelling and psychotic patients who are unable to swallow or refuse to swallow conventional oral formulations.

ADVANTAGES:
They dissolve/disintegrate very fast when placed in the mouth. MDDDS are the most convenient dosage forms for dysphagic, pediatric and geriatric patients with swallowing problem.

They do not require water for administration, thus are good alternative for travellers and for bed ridden patients. They simply vanish when placed in the mouth, so cannot be hidden in mouth by psychotic patients. These products not only increase the patients compliance but also fetch large revenues to manufacturers due to line extension.

REQUIREMENTS OF FAST DISSOLVING TABLETS:

An ideal FDT should: Require no water for oral administration, yet dissolve / disperse/ disintegrate in mouth in a matter of seconds. Have a pleasing mouth feel and acceptable taste masking property. Be harder and less friable Leave minimal or no residue in mouth after administration Exhibit low sensitivity to environmental conditions (temperature and humidity). Allow the manufacture of tablet using conventional processing and packaging equipments.

SALIENT FEATURES OF FDT:

Ease of administration to patients who refuse to swallow a tablet, such as paediatric and geriatric patients and, psychiatric patients. Convenience of administration and accurate dosing as compared to liquids. No need of water to swallow the dosage from, which is highly convenient feature for patients who are traveling and do not have immediate access to water. Good mouth feels properly of MDDS helps to change the basic view of medication as "bitter pill", particularly for paediatric patients. Rapid dissolution of drug and absorption which may produce rapid, onset of action. Some drugs are absorbed from the month pharynx and oesophagus as the saliva passes down into the stomach, in such cases bioavailability of drugs is increased.

LIMITATIONS:
The tablets usually have insufficient mechanical strength. Hence, careful handling is required. The tablets may leave unpleasant taste and/or grittiness in mouth if not formulated properly.

METHODS OF PREPARATION OF FDT:

1.Freeze drying / lyophilization 2. Tablet Moulding 3. Spray drying 4. Sublimation 5. Direct compression 6. Mass extrusion

1.FREEZE DRYING OR LYOPHILIZATION:

Freeze drying is the process in which water is sublimed from the product after it is frozen. This technique creates an amorphous porous structure that can dissolve rapidly. The active drug is dissolved or dispersed in an aqueous solution of a carrier/polymer. The mixture is done by weight and poured in the walls of the preformed blister packs. The trays holding the blister packs are passed through liquid nitrogen freezing tunnel to freeze the drug solution or dispersion. Then the frozen blister packs are placed in refrigerated cabinets to continue the freezedrying. After freeze-drying the aluminum foil backing is applied on a blister-sealing machine Finally the blisters are packaged and shipped. The freeze-drying technique has demonstrated improved absorption and increase in bioavailability. Disadvantages: expensive and time consuming; fragility makes conventional packaging unsuitable for these products. poor stability under stressed conditions. 2.TABLET MOLDING: Molding process is of two types i.e. solvent method and heat method. Solvent method involves moistening the powder blend with a hydro alcoholic solvent followed by compression at low pressures in molded plates to form a wetted mass (compression molding). The solvent is then removed by air-drying The tablets manufactured in this manner are less compact than compressed tablets and posses a porous structure that hastens dissolution. The heat molding process involves preparation of a suspension that contains a drug, agar and sugar (e.g. mannitol or lactose) and pouring the suspension in the blister packaging wells, solidifying the agar at the room temperature to form a jelly and drying at 30C under vacuum. The mechanical strength of molded tablets is a matter of great concern. Binding agents, which increase the mechanical strength of the tablets, need to be incorporated. Taste masking is an added problem to this technology. The taste masked drug particles were prepared by spray congealing a molten mixture of hydrogenated cottonseed oil, sodium carbonate, lecithin, polyethylene glycol and an active ingredient into a lactose based tablet triturate form. Compared to the lyophillization technique,tablets produced by the molding technique are easier to scale up for industrial manufacture. 3.SPRAY DRYING: In this technique, gelatin can be used as a supporting agent and as a matrix, mannitol as a bulking agent and sodium starch glycolate or crosscarmellose or crospovidone are used as superdisintegrants.

Tablets manufactured from the spray-dried powder have been reported to disintegrate in less than 20 seconds in aqueous medium. The formulation contained bulking agent like mannitol and lactose, a superdisintegrant like sodium starch glycolate & croscarmellose sodium and acidic ingredient (citric acid) and/or alkaline ingredients (e.g. sodium bicarbonate). This spray-dried powder, which compressed into tablets showed rapid disintegration and enhanced dissolution. 4.SUBLIMATION: To generate a porous matrix, volatile ingredients are incorporated in the formulation that is later subjected to a process of sublimation. Highly volatile ingredients like ammonium bicarbonate,ammonium carbonate, benzoic acid, camphor, naphthalene, urea, urethane and phthalic anhydride may be compressed along with other excipients into a tablet. This volatile material is then removed by sublimation leaving behind a highly porous matrix. Tablets manufactured by this technique have reported to usually disintegrate in 10-20 sec. Even solvents like cyclohexane; benzene can be used as pore forming agents. 5.DIRECT COMPRESSION: Direct compression represents the simplest and most cost effective tablet manufacturing technique. This technique can now be applied to preparation of ODT because of the availability of improved excipients especially superdisintegrants and sugar based excipients.

(a) Superdisintegrants: In many orally disintegrating tablet technologies based on direct compression, the addition of superdisintegrants principally affects the rate of disintegration and hence the dissolution. The presence of other formulation ingredients such as water-soluble excipients and effervescent agents further hastens the process of disintegration. (b) Sugar Based Excipients: This is another approach to manufacture ODT by direct compression. The use of sugar based excipients especially bulking agents like dextrose, fructose, isomalt, lactilol, maltilol, maltose,mannitol, sorbitol, starch hydrolysate, polydextrose and xylitol, which display high aqueous solubility and sweetness, and hence impart taste masking property and a pleasing mouthfeel. Mizumito et al have classified sugar-based excipients into two types on the basis of molding and dissolution rate. Type 1 saccharides (lactose and mannitol) exhibit low mouldability but high dissolution rate. Type 2 saccharides (maltose and maltilol) exhibit high mouldability and low dissolution rate.

6.MASS EXTRUSION: This technology involves softening the active blend using the solvent mixture of watersoluble polyethylene glycol and methanol and subsequent expulsion of softened mass through the extruder or syringe to get a cylinder of the product into even segments using heated blade to form tablet. The dried cylinder can also be used to coat granules for bitter drugs and thereby achieve taste masking.

EVALUATION METHODS OF FDT:

Different evaluation techniques include: Weight Variation Hardness Disintegration time Friability % Drug Content

DRUG PROGILE:
DESCRIPTION: Salbutamol is a short-acting, selective beta2-adrenergic receptor agonist used in the treatment of asthma and COPD. PHARMACODYNAMICS: Salbutamol (INN) or albuterol (USAN), a moderately selective beta(2)-receptor agonist similar in structure to terbutaline, is widely used as a bronchodilator to manage asthma and other chronic obstructive airway diseases. The R-isomer, levalbuterol, is responsible for bronchodilation while the S-isomer increases bronchial reactivity. The R-enantiomer is sold in its pure form as Levalbuterol.. ABSORPTION: Systemic absorption is rapid following aerosol administration. METABOLISM: Hydrolyzed by esterases in tissue and blood to the active compound colterol. The drug is also conjugatively metabolized to salbutamol 4'-O-sulfate. HALF LIFE: 1.6 hours TOXICITY: LD50=1100 mg/kg

CONCLUSION:
As a drug entity nears the end of its patent life, it is common for pharmaceutical manufacturers to develop a given drug entity in a new and improved dosage form. A new dosage form allows a manufacturer to extend market exclusivity, while offering its patient population a more convenient dosage form or dosing regimen. In this regard, fast dissolving/disintegrating tablet formulations are similar to many sustained release formulations that are now commonly available.

An extension of market exclusivity, which can be provided by a fastdissolving/disintegrating dosage form, leads to increased revenue, while also targeting underserved and under-treated patient populations.

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http://ukpmc.ac.uk/abstrMED/act/8945778/reload=0;jsessionid=672DB22773E33F0 C4B10C60BAC73985A. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378517304005125 http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/cpb/50/2/50_193/_article/-char/en http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orally_disintegrating_tablet http://pharmtech.findpharma.com/pharmtech/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=185957