Polymer adhesion predictions for oral dosage forms to enhance drug administration safety. Part 2: In vitro approach using mechanical force methods

Predicting the potential for unintended adhesion of solid oral dosage forms (SODF) to mucosal tissue is an important aspect that should be considered during drug product development. Previous investigations into low strength mucoadhesion based on particle interactions methods provided evidence that rheological measurements could be used to obtain valid predictions for the development of SODF coatings that can be safely swallowed. The aim of this second work was to estimate the low mucoadhesive strength properties of different polymers using in vitro methods based in mechanical forces, and to identify which methods are more precise when measuring reduced mucoadhesion. Another aim was to compare the obtained results to the ones achieved with in vitro particle interaction methods in order to evaluate which methodology can provide stronger predictions. The combined results correlate between particle interaction methods and mechanical force measurements. The polyethylene glycol grades (PEG) and carnauba wax showed the lowest adhesive potential and are predicted to support safe swallowing. Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) along with high molecular grades of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) exhibited strong in vitro mucoadhesive strength. The combination of rheological and force tensiometer measurements should be considered when assessing the reduced mucoadhesion of polymer coatings to support safe swallowing of SODF.