Factors Affecting Tablet Disintegration by Immersion in Food Thickener Solution

Food thickeners are often used to prevent aspiration in people with impaired swallowing because they can be added to foods and beverages to increase their viscosity. Although they are also used in medication administration, they affect tablet disintegration. However, the factors that delay disintegration remain unclear. In the present study, three antihypertensive agents with different characteristics were immersed in thickened solutions and subjected to disintegration testing to evaluate the effects of the type of food thickener (xanthan gum vs. starch), presence or absence of a disintegrant, and immersion time (0, 1, and 30 min) on tablet disintegration time under Japanese Pharmacopoeia conditions. Linear regression analysis was performed on the results. When Blopress^® tablets containing disintegrants were immersed in a xanthan gum-based thickener solution, the disintegration time was prolonged by approximately 80-300 s, and linear regression analysis showed that this prolongation was significant. Meanwhile, the disintegration time of Norvasc® tablet (5 mg), which also contains a disintegrant, was 42 s without immersion and extended to 187 s after immersion in a thickening solution of xanthan gum for 30 min. Furthermore, the starch-based thickener solution did not affect tablet disintegration regardless of the presence or absence of disintegrants.