EVALUATION OF EGG-ALBUMIN AS A FILLER FOR PROLONGED RELEASE DIRECT COMPRESSED TABLETS

Direct compressed tablets for drugs of different physico-chemical prop erties were prepared using egg albumin as tablet filler. The prepared tablets at different drug:egg albumin ratios as well as the powder ble nds used for the preparation of the tablets were evaluated. The drug d issolutions from the egg albumin tablets were slow and different relea se profiles were obtained depending on the type of the drug. The relea se kinetics from the albumin matrix were tested for different models a nd were found to be anomalous resembling release of drugs from swellab le type of matrices. In order to elucidate the release mechanism, the interaction of drugs with egg albumin was examined by thermal analysis . In most cases release retardation was increased with the increase of egg albumin matrix density. In case of meclizine-HCl the release was not depending on the egg albumin matrix density and it was believed th at the rate determining step for its release is drug solubility and/or dissociation of the drug-egg albumin complex.