Formulation and evaluation of taste-masked oral disintegrating tablet containing tolterodine-loaded montmorillonite

Background and purpose: The present study aimed to obtain a taste-masked oral disintegrating tablet (ODT) containing tolterodine tartrate (TT) intercalated into montmorillonite (MMT) Experimental approach: The TT-MMT hybrid was prepared by ion exchange reaction. The effect of the initial concentration of TT, MMT, temperature, and pH on the encapsulation efficiency (EE) % of the drug in MMT was evaluated. The selected TT-MMT hybrid was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Then, the optimized TT-MMT hybrid was incorporated in the ODT prepared by direct compression method and taste-masking assessment performed by a human test panel. Findings/Results: The EE% of TT was in the range of 22.67 to 71.06% in different formulations. It was found that increases in MMT concentration significantly increased EE%. DSC and XRD studies indicated that the TT was intercalated in the MMT interlayer space in an amorphous or molecular state. In-vitro release studies at pH 6.8 showed that the amount of the drug released from the TT-MMT hybrid was negligible for the first 3 min. The post-compression of ODT also showed satisfactory results in terms of friability, hardness, disintegration time, and taste. Conclusion and implications: MMT-ODT could be a suitable vehicle for the taste masking of TT, with the potential for use in patients with swallowing problems.