Effect of the mode of croscarmellose sodium incorporation on tablet dissolution and friability

A computer-optimized experimental design was used to study the effect of incorporating a "super disintegrant", croscarmellose sodium, intragranularly, extragranularly, or distributed equally between the two phases of a tablet in which a poorly soluble drug constituted at least 92.5% of the formulation. The results were analyzed by means of a general quadratic response surface model and suggest that tablets with the same total concentration of super disintegrant dissolve at a faster rate when the super disintegrant is included intragranularly. Tablet friability was not affected by the method of super disintegrant incorporation.