3D printing of customized all-starch tablets with combined release kinetics

[EN] Starch-based tablets with tailored releases were prepared by 3D printing using a hydrophobic drug. The importance of the origin of the excipient in the inks and tablets was analyzed. Besides, the effect of the geometry of the tablet on the drug release profile was also evaluated. The rheological properties of the inks was influenced by the botanic origin of the starch. Consequently, tablets presented different microporous structure and particular compression and swelling behaviors. Normal maize starch showed a non-well-defined porous morphology, not being able to form a stable structure whereas, waxy maize and potato starches exhibited a well-defined porous structure and were both able to maintain their integrity after long time immersion. Finally, tablets combining different starches and geometries were printed tailoring the drug release from 10 min to 6 h and designing two-steps profiles. The applicability of the developed 3D printed drug release systems in personalized therapies was demonstrated.Financial support from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) (GIU18/216 Research Group), from the Basque Government in the frame of Elkartek KK-2020/00053 and PIBA2020-1-0041 and from Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and Spanish State Research Agency (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) in the frame of PID2019-105090RB-I00 project, are gratefully acknowledged. Moreover, we are grateful to the Macrobehavior-Mesostructure-Nanotechnology SGIker unit of the UPV/EHU. K. González thanks the University of the Basque Country for the grant “Contratación de doctores recientes hasta su integración en programas de formación postdoctoral en la UPV/EHU «DOKBERRI» 2020-I” (DOCREC20/07)