Formulation and In Vitro Evaluation of Taste-Masked Fast Disintegrating Tablets of Prednisolone

Prednisolone is a widely used glucocorticoid in most inflammatory situations such as respiratory, rheumatoid and cancer disorders. The bitter taste of this drug is the major problem limiting its use especially in children. The present study deals with the formulation and evaluation of taste masked oral disintegrating tablets (ODTs) of prednisolone, which are rapidly disintegrated in mouth upon contact with saliva. Two different methods of taste masking, wet granulation and encapsulation, were employed and their taste masking efficiency were compared. Eudragit E, a pH sensitive polymer, was used as taste masking agent and tablets were formulated using different combinations of superdisintegrants with other excipients. Results of tasting tablets by healthy volunteers indicated almost similar taste masking efficiency for both methods. The optimized formulations with proper amounts of crospovidone (11% w/w), Ac-Di-Sol (11% w/w) and Avicel (13% w/w) as disintegrants showed a rapid disintegration time (< 45 sec), proper hardness (similar to 3.5) and friability less than 1%. It seems that Eudragit E could be an efficient polymer for masking the bitter taste of prednisolone and fast disintegrating tablets can be suggested as a promising choice for use in patients who have problems with swallowing bitter taste drugs.