چکیده (انگلیسی):

Natural materials should be useful as pharmaceutical addi-tives from the perspective of resource utilization and safety.1-4 Acidified brewers’ yeast cell wall (AYC) has been examined with respect to novel applications5-9 as it can be used as an aqueous coating material for tablets and gran-ules.5-7 In accordance with these properties of AYC, AYC maintains the baggy structure of the original yeast. In water, AYC is dispersed as independent particles with a surface hydrogel layer. Water is included within the structure unlike other polymers. The release profile of drugs from tablets coated with AYC is sigmoidal with an initial lag time, and drug release is scarcely affected by the pH of the dissolution fluid or by storage at room temperature for 120 days. The lag time and release rate of drug is controllable by varying the curing time and temperature. The surface of granules is smooth at a coating ratio of only 5% AYC, unlike other agents, which generally require approximately 15% to 30% coating against core granule weight, with no aggregation. The oxygen permeability coefficient of AYC film is ex-tremely low and corresponds to the value of aluminum foil laminated with polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate. In addition, AYC has a low water permeability coefficient, which protects the included drug from moisture. Based on these findings, AYC became commercially available as the coating agent, YeastWrap, for food in April 2000.