Physical properties of chitosan pellets produced by extrusion-spheronisation: influence of formulation variables

Pellets comprising chitosan, cellulose microcrystalline, povidone, filler excipient and diclofenac sodium as model drug were prepared by extrusion-spheronisation. The effects of chitosan load (zero, 0%, low, 4% and high, 16% levels), type of filler (lactose, tribasic calcium phosphate and beta-cyclodextrin) and composition of the binding liquid (ethanol/water mixtures 20 and 50%) on physical characteristics of pellets were evaluated. A three-factor factorial design was employed in the study. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that single factors had significant effect on the physical characteristics of the pellets. The type of filler followed by polymer load markedly affected the density. The type of binding liquid had negligible effect on the shape and surface roughness of the pellets. Increase in the chitosan load resulted in pellets of lower porosity values. This could be attributed to the binding capacity of chitosan and povidone leading to more compacted structures. Chitosan load and type of filler had significant influence on the surface roughness. The surface of pellets became rougher as the chitosan load increased, however, there was no significant difference between zero and low contents of chitosan. Pellets prepared using tribasic calcium phosphate showed a smoother surface when compared with formulations including lactose or beta-cyclodextrin. Chitosan was useful to provide pellets of acceptable physical characteristics when employing an alcohol/water mixture 50% (v/v) as binding liquid for the extrusion-spheronisation process.