Mucoadhesive buccal films for treatment of xerostomia prepared by coupling HME and 3D printing technologies

Polyethylene oxide-based muco-adhesive buccal films containing adipic acid active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and xylitol were developed using hot-melt extrusion (HME) coupled with Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) three-dimensional (3D) printing. The immediate release mucoadhesive are intended for treatment or amelioration of xerostomia (dry mouth condition). Different formulae as the main saliva stimulating ingredients, polyethylene oxide N80 (Polyox-N80) polymeric carrier extruded Thermo Scientific™ Process 11 Parallel Twin-Screw Extruder by Fisher Scientific (Waltham, MA, USA) equipped 1.5 mm die. extrudates evaluated printability 3-point bend test ones which exhibited appropriate mechanical strength 3D printed Prusa i3 MK3 S printer at 50 °C bed temperature, 200 extruder temperature. demonstrated uniform content desirable drug upon quantification high performance liquid chromatography. More than 80% was released in 15 min 100% within 30 min. DSC thermographs formulations revealed dispersed polymer. results this study present an alternative formulation approach combining HME FDM-3D printing development xylitol.