title: Approaches to developing fast release pellets via wet extrusion-spheronization.
abstract: Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) is widely regarded as the excellent choice to manufacture pellets via wet extrusion-spheronisation (ES) process due to its excellent water uptake capability, water holding capacity, desirable rheological properties, cohesiveness and plasticity etc. Nevertheless, in spite of all these advantages, limitations associated with the application of MCC also have been reported. The most prevailing limitation is prolonged or incomplete drug release profile due to the lack of disintegration as pellet contracts significantly during the drying process, especially when in combination with poorly soluble drug at a high level. This characteristic limits the application of MCC in immediate release formulations. Over the years, many approaches have been tried to overcome this disadvantage, such as modifying MCC, incorporation of superdisintegrant, increasing the porosity of pellet, partial or complete substitution for MCC, enhancing the solubility of poorly soluble drug (e.g. solid dispersion, self-emulsifying drug-delivery system), etc. In this review, we will provide an updated and integrated discussion of current approaches to prepare fast release pellets via wet ES.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pharmacy , Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology , Wuhan , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pharmacy , Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology , Wuhan , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chun-Yang
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pharmacy , Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology , Wuhan , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jian-Guo
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pharmacy , Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology , Wuhan , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wen-Qing
authors.initials: WQ
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations / Q000737:chemistry*; D004339:Drug Compounding / Q000379:methods*; D004655:Emulsions / Q000737:chemistry; D005079:Excipients / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000737:chemistry; D016062:Porosity; D012995:Solubility; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D004655:Emulsions; D005079:Excipients; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D014867:Water; D002482:Cellulose; C109691:microcrystalline cellulose
keywords: Pellet; extrusion-spheronization; fast release; porosity; solubility