Aging of Tablets Prepared by Direct Compression of Bases with Different Moisture Content

Abstract

Properties of aged tablets prepared by the wet granulation method were found to be affected by the moisture content of the granules. In this study, the storage-induced changes in hardness, disintegration and drug release were evaluated for tablets made by direct compression of three different bases with different initial moisture content. Tablets with high initial moisture content were found to increase in hardness upon storage. The magnititude of such increase is dependant upon the physical properties of the base and the absolute moisture content. The increase in hardness may increase the disintegration time and decrease drug release. Tablets with low initial moisture content were minimally affected by storage. The gain of moisture by some of these tablets led to enhancement in disintegration and drug release. Among the tablets studied lactose based tablets with different initial moisture content were found to be the most resistant to changes upon storage.