The Molded Tablet, a disintegrant-free orally disintegrating tablet, resists thickening solution-reduced drug dissolution

In clinical practice, a thickening solution is frequently coadministered with medicinal tablets to facilitate swallowing by older patients. This study investigated the effect of thickening solutions on the reduction in drug dissolution from orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs) by testing a disintegrant-free ODT, the Molded Tablet (MT), and various disintegrant-containing ODTs. After measurement of the tensile strength of the test ODTs, a drug dissolution test was performed on ODTs treated with or without thickening solutions. Drug dissolution from the common disintegrant-containing ODTs was reduced significantly by treatment with thickening solutions, but the reduction was more moderate for the test MT. The present study also measured the swelling behavior and mechanical strength of the test ODTs after treatment with thickening solution. We observed that the MTs displayed less swelling in the thickening solution and that the swollen tablets had lower mechanical strength than the disintegrant-containing ODTs. This study suggests that the disintegrants contained in ODTs play a key role in reducing drug dissolution accompanied by treatment with a thickening solution, i.e., the disintegrants allow the ODT to interact closely with the thickening solution and this interaction has a substantial impact on the drug dissolution from ODTs.