Latent structure analysis in the pharmaceutical process of tablets prepared by wet granulation.

AbstractBackground: Granule characteristics are some of the important intermediate qualities that determine tablet properties. However, the relationships between granule and tablet characteristics are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to elucidate relationships among formulation factors, granule characteristics, and tablet properties using a non-linear response surface method (RSM) incorporating a thin-plate spline interpolation (RSM-S) and a Bayesian network (BN).Method: Tablets containing lactose (Lac), cornstarch (CS), and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) were prepared by wet granulation. Ten formulations were prepared by an extreme vertices design. The angle of repose (Y1), compressibility (Y2), cohesion force (Y3), internal friction angle (Y4), and mean particle size (Y5) were measured as granule characteristics. Tensile strength (TS) and disintegration time (DT) were measured as tablet properties.Results: RSM-S results showed that TS increased with increasing amounts of MCC and Lac. DT de...