A publication on a new, tastier dissolving tablet has been retracted for data errors. Here’s the brief notice for “Meloxicam Taste-Masked Oral Disintegrating Tablet with Dissolution Enhanced by Ion Exchange Resins and Cyclodextrin“:
Meloxicam Taste-Masked Oral Disintegrating Tablet with Dissolution Enhanced by Ion Exchange Resins and Cyclodextrin was retracted at the request of the authors because of an error in data compilation.
And here’s the abstract for the paper, which has been cited twice, according to Google Scholar:
The purpose of this study was to develop taste-masked oral disintegrating tablets (ODTs) using the combination of ion exchange resin and cyclodextrin, to mask the bitter taste and enhance drug dissolution. Meloxicam (MX) was selected as a model drug with poor water solubility and a bitter taste. Formulations containing various forms of MX (free drug, MX-loaded resin or resinate, complexes of MX and 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) or MX/HPβCD complexes, and a mixture of resinate and MX/HPβCD complexes) were made and tablets were prepared by direct compression. The ODTs were evaluated for weight variation, thickness, diameter, hardness, friability, disintegration time, wetting time, MX content, MX release, degree of bitter taste, and stability. The results showed that thickness, diameter, weight, and friability did not differ significantly for all of these formulations. The tablet hardness was approximately 3 kg/in.(2), and the friability was less than 1%. Tablets formulated with resinate and the mixture of resinate and MX/HPβCD complexes disintegrated rapidly within 60 s, which is the acceptable limit for ODTs. These results corresponded to the in vivo disintegration and wetting times. However, only tablets containing the mixture of resinate and MX/HPβCD complexes provided complete MX dissolution and successfully masked the bitter taste of MX. In addition, this tablet was stable at least 6 months. The results from this study suggest that the appropriate combination of ion exchange resin and cyclodextrin could be used in ODTs to mask the bitter taste of drug and enhance the dissolution of drugs that are weakly soluble in water.
Springer declined to comment further, and the authors didn’t respond to our requests for more details.
Part timers at a supermarket sample taste test booth for meatballs or cheese would get this right in a few hours. Too much science not enough common sense!