Nanocrystal-based 3D-printed tablets: Semi-solid extrusion using melting solidification printing process (MESO-PP) for oral administration of poorly soluble drugs

CAMACHO, NAHUEL

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2022 vol. 611

0378-5173

his is the first report on the inclusion of nanocrystals (NCs) within 3D-printed oral solid dosage forms ?3D-printed tablets or printlets? produced by the Melting Solidification Printing Process (MESO-PP) 3D printing technique. This method allowed the incorporation of albendazole (ABZ) nanocrystals in a concentration of up to 50% w/w, something not achieved in conventional tablets. An ink of PEG 1500/propylenegycol was used as a carrier and no physicochemical interactions or crystallinity modifications were observed due to the inclusion of ABZ-NCs into the ink, as demonstrated by TGA, DSC, XRD and FT-IR. In particular, the relative crystallinity of the ink loaded with NCs was 97.8% similar to the physical mixture of the components. Moreover, the presence of NCs was observed in the surface and matrix of the printlets by SEM. In addition, the printlet NCs demonstrated to be more effective than NCs included in hard gelatin capsules in improving drug dissolution in HCl 0.1 N. The particle