Effect of screw profile and processing conditions on physical transformation and chemical degradation of gabapentin during twin-screw melt granulation

Nada Kittikunakorn, Changquan Calvin Sun, Feng Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Twin-screw melt granulation (TSMG) was applied to process a powder blend consisting of 80% gabapentin (GABA) and 20% hydroxypropyl cellulose. The effect of screw profile and processing conditions on the process-induced transformation and chemical degradation of gabapentin was studied. When a neutral kneading block was used, gabapentin underwent polymorphic transformation. A forward kneading block in combination with processing under torque conditions was required to minimize chemical degradation and to inhibit polymorphic transformation of gabapentin. Both the size of the extruded granules and gabapentin degradant level correlated positively with the specific rate, the ratio between feed rate and screw speed. At higher specific rate, the barrel was filled to a greater extent. The material packing and compressive forces were enhanced, as proven by the increased rupturing of CAMES® sensor beads and GABA crystal size reduction. This resulted in more interaction between the powder particles and facilitated granule growth. Simultaneously, this also resulted in higher degradant level. To attain adequate tabletability, the specific rate must reach a threshold value. The development of an optimum TSMG process requires balancing processing parameters based on the physical and chemical stability of GABA as well as its tabletability.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)243-253
Number of pages11
JournalEuropean Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Volume131
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work is partially supported by Research Grant from Prinston Pharmaceutical (Cranbury, NJ, USA) and PhRMA Foundation Research Starter Grant Pharmaceutics 2019.

Funding Information:
This work is partially supported by Research Grant from Prinston Pharmaceutical (Cranbury, NJ, USA) and PhRMA Foundation Research Starter Grant Pharmaceutics 2019. Appendix A

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

  • Chemical degradation
  • Gabapentin
  • Process-induced transformation
  • System parameter
  • Twin-screw melt granulation

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