A study on the plasticization of sustained release coatings for their ability to withstand the damaging effects of compaction on coated pellets Chan Pui Sheon a , Sivaram Nallamolu a, *, Paul Wan Sia Heng b a Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, International Medical University, 57000 Malaysia b Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, 117543 Singapore ARTICLE INFO Article history: Available online 24 November 2015 Keywords: MUPS Tableting Plasticizer (TEC) Pellets Pharmaceutical solid dosage forms are commonly coated to modify the release of drugs. Due to the disadvantages of coated single-unit dosage forms, such as occurrences of dose dumping and local irritation, coated multi-particulates are preferred. Coated multi-particulates can eventually be filled into cap- sules or compressed into tablets. The latter is more desirable as unit production costs of tablets are considerably lower and machinery is more easily available. However, compression forces can result in structural changes to the coat, affecting its func- tion. Hence, it is important to understand the factors affecting coat damage during compression [1–3]. The objective of this project is to examine how plasticiza- tion of coatings mitigate the level of pellet coat damage in tableted multi-unit pellet system (MUPS). The method in- volves coating of sustained release coats of different levels of plasticizer triethyl citrate (TEC) by film casting method.The com- pacts were made with the coated pellets. The casted films were studied for their mechanical properties and the coated pellets for their dissolution study.The model drug chlorpheniramine maleate was loaded onto sugar coated pellets of 500–600 μm in size using HPMC, povidone and de-ionized water. The drug loaded pellets were film coated with aqueous ethyl cellulose dispersion with varying levels of TEC using precision coating unit. The coated pellets were formulated with lactose, crospovidone and magnesium stearate into compact masses, by using 15 mm flat face punches with a compression force of 10 kN. These compacted tablets of MUPS were studied for in- vitro tests like hardness, disintegration and dissolution rate. The surface morphology of the pellets was assessed by using SEM and the results were statistically analyzed by ANOVA. The results of hardness, disintegration and dissolution were shown in Fig. 1. When the amount of TEC increased, the tablet hardness decreased which comparably produced soft and easily breakable tablets.The disintegration test shows increase in dis- integration time with increased TEC concentration. A significant sustain action was observed in 2% weight gain, rather than 10% weight gain pellets. This was found to be the same in all the varying concentrations of TEC (10%, 20% and 30%) signifying * E-mail address: sivaram_nallamolu@imu.edu.my. Peer review under responsibility of Shenyang Pharmaceutical University. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajps.2015.11.032 1818-0876/© 2016 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Shenyang Pharmaceutical University.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). asian journal of pharmaceutical sciences 11 (2016) 209–210 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ajps HOSTED BY ScienceDirect