In vitro disintegration of lozenge in oral cavity

The aim of this study is to develop a new in vitro disintegration method for lozenges in the oral cavity (OC) by mimicking physiologically relevant conditions in the OC including saliva flow rate and suction. Disintegration of solid-state dosage forms in the OC can be employed for local absorption in the OC or for delivering to the succeeding parts of the gastrointestinal tract. Understanding the disintegration is important before gaining insight into dissolution and absorption. Here abrasion force and rate exerted on the lozenge during the disintegration are controlled by a texture analyser. We showed that a higher flow rate and more frequent abrasion can lead to a faster disintegration, while variation of the compression force within a range in this study does not affect the disintegration statistically. The results are relevant to different types of consumers with variation in saliva production, for example, people with salivary dysfunction including elderly people. It is also important to consider these effects when formulating flavor and taste of lozenge that can affect consumer perception and consequently suction force and rate or saliva production. We could also observe disintegrated but not dissolved parts of the lozenge by using this apparatus, demonstrating the importance of the correlation between disintegration and dissolution when considering drug absorption in the OC to overcome the challenges of drug clearance from the OC by swallowing.