Compression Behavior of Acetylsalicylic Acid Pellets

Abstract

An instrumented tablet press was used to study the compression behavior of different acetylsalicylic acid (AAS) formulations. Formulations of AAS crystals and uncoated AAS pellets have compression behavior similar to formulations of AAS pellets coated with acrylic resins (Eudragit RS) and mixed with a 20% of microcrystalline cellulose. Formulations of AAS coated pellets without any excipient exhibited a more plastic compression behavior then the other formulations. Matrix tablets of AAS were produced by compression of formulations of AAS coated pellets without any excipients. The drug release profile of the pellets before and after compression was also studied. Microcrystalline cellulose concentrations higher than 15% w/w were required to obtain tablets of coated pellets with drug release profiles similar to the coated pellets before compression. It can be concluded from the present work that compression data of coated particles can be useful to study the possible damage of the film coat of the particles during tableting. Futhermore, instrumented tablet press data can be a good complement of in vitro drug release studies.