Model drug release from matrix tablets composed of HPMC with different substituent heterogeneity.

The release of a model drug substance, methylparaben, was studied in matrix tablets composed of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) batches of the USP 2208 grade that had different chemical compositions. It was found that chemically heterogeneous HPMC batches with longer sections of low substituted regions and lower hydroxypropoxy content facilitated the formation of reversible gel structures at a temperature as low as 37°C. Most importantly, these structures were shown to affect the release of the drug from matrix tablets, where the drug release decreased with increased heterogeneity and a difference in T80 values of 7h was observed between the compositions. This could be explained by the much lower erosion rate of the heterogeneous HPMC batches, which decreased the drug release rate and also released the drug with a more diffusion based release mechanism compared to the less heterogeneous batches. It can therefore be concluded that the drug release from matrix tablets is very sensitive to variations in the chemical heterogeneity of HPMC.