Formulation development of methylprednisolone dispersible tablets using quality by design approach

Abstract

The objective of this study was to enhance the solubility of Methylprednisolone by choosing micronized form of drug and to enhance patient compliance by formulating it as dispersible tablets using quality by design (QbD) approach. Dispersible tablets of Methylprednisolone were developed by 23 factorial design. In this study independent variables were concentrations of MCC 102, CCS and Magnesium stearate and dependent variables were disintegration time, hardness and dissolution. The resulting data was fitted into Design Expert Software (Trial Version) and analyzed statistically using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The response surface plots were generated to determine the influence of concentration of MCC 102, CCS and magnesium stearate on responses. The tablets were prepared by direct compression method by choosing micronized form of drug and formulations were evaluated for the standard of dispersible tablets. Results showed that no significant drug-polymer interactions in FTIR studies. According to QbD suggestion the formulation O1 (Desirability- 0.73) with MCC-38mg, CCS-3.5mg and magnesium stearate-2.5mg was formulated and evaluated. The disintegration time was found to be 69 seconds, hardness was found to be 64N and in vitro dissolution with in 30minutes. Optimized O1 formulation was within the limits of standards of dispersible tablets with increased water solubility and better patient compliance. Stability study on optimized O1 formulation showed that there is no significant changes during study period. Thus, O1 formulation was found to be stable. The study indicates that formulation of Methylprednisolone dispersible tablets by using QbD approach is a promising formulation development method.
 Keywords: Dispersible tablets, Methylprednisolone, Direct compression, Quality by Design and ANOVA.