Control of Drug Diffusion Behavior of Xanthan and Locust Bean Gum Gel by Agar Gel

Abstract

Oral gel formulations are known as easy to administer drug products for patients who have problems taking drugs including those with conditions such as dysphagia. In addition, there are numerous commercially available oral gel products, most of which are immediate-release formulation that release their pharmaceutical ingredient content by diffusion. This study is focused on developing oral gel formulations that reduce the dosing frequency and dosage compared to the conventional types. This is with the aim of facilitating the use of gel formulations for producing pharmaceutical agents with different dose regimens, thereby enhancing patient convenience. Here, we used naturally derived high-molecular-weight agar (Ag), xanthan gum (Xa), and locust bean gum (Lo) as gel bases to prepare a variety of gel membranes, and evaluated the diffusion coefficient of the model substances. The result revealed that the Ag content in the Xa-Lo combination gel concentrationdependently increased the diffusion coefficient. Moreover, these findings were applied in an attempt to mask the taste of intensely bitter levofloxacin. The results indicated that the Xa-Lo combination gel exhibited a significantly superior masking effect to that of the Ag gel. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using oral gel formulations to modulate the controlled-release functionality of pharmaceutical agents.Key words oral gel formulation; diffusion control; time lag method; naturally derived high-molecular-weight gel; dissolution profileIn recent years, proactive development of formulations that facilitate patient convenience in taking medicines has been encouraged to improve drug compliance and adherence. Examples of such efforts include orally disintegrating tablets, 1,2) film drug products, 3,4) and oral gel formulations. 5,6) The increasing trend of proactive research and development into these formulations may have been partly encouraged by a rapidly growing aging population worldwide. In particular, Japan is currently experiencing a situation where our population appears to enter into the phase of an aged society ahead of the rest of the world. This circumstance makes addressing the challenges for the prevention of diseases such as pneumonia aspiration associated with compromised swallowing functions in aged people a priority.Current research on oral gel products has focused on easeof-dosing that can be achieved by the proper flowability and easy chewability offered by gel formulations. Furthermore, these formulations can clinically enhance drug compliance in the elderly and patients with dysphagia and, therefore, they were primarily expected to be used in hospital dispensaries. However, advances in manufacturing machinery and technologies in recent years have gradually encouraged active research into gel formulations with a post-marketing projection. The beneficial effects of some oral gel formulation jellies have been demonstrated including Caloryl ® that contains lactulose as a hyperammonemia treatment drug; Lagnos ® , Argamate ® that contain...

Enrichment of Agar Gel with Antioxidant Pectin from Fireweed: Mechanical and Rheological Properties, Simulated Digestibility, and Oral Processing

“…Locust bean gum (LBG), a galactomannan from the seeds of the carob tree, and salep polysaccharide, a glucomannan from the roots and tubers of orchids, have been shown to reduce strength and elongation of agar film [ 21 ]. In another study [ 22 ], the addition of a combination of LBG and xanthan gum reduced the breaking stress of the agar gel membrane. However, other studies have reported that LBG may increase the strength of agar gels [ 23 ].…”

“…In the present study, we assumed that incorporating FP into the agar gel would make it possible to obtain a mixed food gel with antioxidant activity. It has previously been shown that incorporating other hydrocolloids into agar gel changes its physicochemical properties [ 21 , 22 , 23 ]. Rozek et al [ 24 ] supplemented model agar gel with grape PCs.…”

Topical Medicine Potency of Musa paradisiaca var. sapientum (L.) kuntze as Oral Gel for Wound Healing: An In Vitro, In Vivo Study

“… 30 In addition, there are many oral gel products that are available commercially, most of which are quick-release formulations that release the active ingredient by diffusion. 31 …”

“…30 In addition, there are many oral gel products that are available commercially, most of which are quick-release formulations that release the active ingredient by diffusion. 31 In this study, HPMC was used for making the GEGPA preparations, which act as a gelling agent. HPMC will form a colloidal system when dissolved in water.…”

Preparation and Evaluation of Physicochemical Propertiesof Isosorbide Gel Composed of Xanthan Gum, Locust Bean Gum and Agar for Improving the Patient�s Adherence

“…When the mixing ratio of LBG was 50% or more, the hardness decreased with increase of LBG ratio. Watanabe et al described that the mixing ratio of XG and LBG which exert the maximum synergistic effect was 1:1 (Watanabe et al, 1992).Varying ratios of LBG have been shown to influence gel structure, in that gel strength suddenly decreased at certain ratios (Watanabe et al, 1992;Watanabe et al, 1993;Watanabe et al, 1996;Copetti et al, 1997;Hishikawa et al, 2016). It is believed that the structure of the straight chain of LBG and the non-straight chain of XG associate at a ratio of 1:1 (Copetti et al, 1997).In the case of this study, AG has been added to the mixture of XG and LBG (Table 1), the reason for not showing the highest hardness at XG:LBG=1:1 is considered to be due to the fact that the coexistence of AG might impair the synergistic effect.The patients felt ill with MD have to take 20-30mL each time.…”