The bitterness intensity of clarithromycin evaluated by a taste sensor

Area of Science:

• Pharmaceutical Science
• Sensory Science
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Drug palatability is crucial for patient compliance, especially with bitter compounds like clarithromycin.
• Taste-masking technologies aim to improve the sensory experience of oral medications.
• Quantitative taste prediction methods can aid in formulation development and quality control.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess a taste sensor's quantitative prediction accuracy for clarithromycin bitterness.
• To evaluate the taste-masking efficacy of aminoalkyl methacrylate polymer in a dry syrup formulation.
• To correlate sensor-based bitterness predictions with human gustatory sensation tests across various beverages.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a taste sensor with three predictive variables: relative sensor output (R), change of membrane potential caused by adsorption (CPA), and CPA/R ratio.
• Performed single and multiple regression analyses to correlate sensor data with bitterness intensity.
• Conducted gustatory sensation tests with human subjects for validation.

Main Results:

• Sensor channel 3 CPA values effectively predicted clarithromycin powder suspension bitterness.
• Aminoalkyl methacrylate polymer demonstrated significant taste-masking success in the dry syrup.
• High correlation (r(2)=0.963) observed between sensor predictions and human taste tests for the dry syrup in various beverages.
• Acidic sports drinks enhanced the perceived bitterness of the clarithromycin dry syrup.

Conclusions:

• The taste sensor is a viable tool for quantitatively predicting clarithromycin bitterness.
• The employed taste-masking polymer effectively reduces the bitterness of clarithromycin dry syrup.
• Sensor-based prediction combined with human taste tests offers a robust method for evaluating drug palatability in different matrices.