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Preparation and Evaluation of Taste Masked Paracetamol Microcapsules

Paracetamol (PAR) is widely used for pediatric and geriatric patients to treat pain and fever, but it has an extremely bitter taste which poses a challenge to be formulated into suitable oral dosage forms for these age categories. This study was aimed to prepare taste-masked paracetamol microcapsules by temperature-induced phase separation technique using ethylcellulose (EC) as a wall polymer and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as a gastro-soluble pore former. The effect of drug/polymer ratio and proportions of calcium carbonate in the wall on microcapsules characteristics were studied. The taste masking efficiency was evaluated using an in vitro dissolution model simulating oral cavity conditions. The optimized formulation was characterized by FT-IR and SEM. Results show that the particle size and the drug release in 0.1 N HCl (pH 1.2) were dependent on the drug/polymer ratio and the proportion of calcium carbonate in the wall. FT-IR spectroscopy of PAR microcapsules showed no interaction between drug and polymer. The in vitro taste masking evaluation of microparticles F8 with a drug/polymer ratio (8/1), which achieved the percent drug release more than 75% at 30min in 0.1N HCL, showed efficient taste-masking of PAR compared to the bitterness threshold.