Improvement of the Bitter Taste of Drugs By Complexation With Cyclodextrins: applications, Evaluations and Mechanisms

Abstract

Drugs having bitter tastes cause low patient compliance. Many taste-masking techniques such as physical barrier coatings, chemical modification and sensory masking have been developed. Among chemical modification, the inclusion complexation of drugs with cyclodextrins (CyDs) can provide the effective bitter taste-masking effects without complicated formulation and/or delayed dissolution of drugs. Herein, we describe some quantitative methods to evaluate the taste-masking effects of CyD complexes with drugs in solution and the solid state. In addition, we introduce the recent applications of CyDs to excipients for taste masking against various bitter-taste drugs, as well as discuss the possible mechanisms for the taste-masking effect of CyD complexation.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express sincere thanks to K Uekama and F Hirayama, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sojo University, Kumamoto, Japan, and T Irie, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan, for their valuable advice, warm support, inspiration and kind help.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.