WO1997042945A1

WO1997042945A1 - Oral pharmaceutical compositions

Info

Publication number: WO1997042945A1
Application number: PCT/EP1997/002418
Authority: WO
Inventors: Beat Schmid
Original assignee: Novartis Consumer Health S.A.
Priority date: 1996-05-13
Filing date: 1997-05-12
Publication date: 1997-11-20
Also published as: ZA974125B; AU2896897A

Abstract

Pharmaceutical compositions for oral administration comprising menthyl lactate are disclosed. They are useful in the treatment of e.g. acute or chronic diseases of the upper or lower respiratory tract, in particular common cold, rhinitis or sinusitis. Furthermore, the invention concerns a method of treating acute or chronic diseases of the upper or lower respiratory tract which method comprises orally administering to a mammal including man a therapeutically effective amount of menthyl lactate. Further, the invention relates to the use of menthyl lactate for the manufacture of a pharmaceutical composition adapted to oral administration for the treatment of acute or chronic diseases of the upper or lower respiratory tract.

Description

Oral pharmaceutical compositions

The invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions adapted to oral administration comprising a certain menthyl ester and to the use of the latter for the manufacture of a pharmaceutical composition.

Thus, the invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition adapted to oral administration comprising menthyl lactate together with at least one pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

The structural formula of menthyl lactate is as follows:

As the compound contains 4 asymmetric carbon atoms, there are existing 16 different stereoisomers. The term "menthyl lactate" is intended to cover each of these stereoisomers as well as any racemates and any other mixtures of these stereoisomers. Preferred is the racemate of the following structure

which is derived from the naturally occuring (-)-menthol. This compound is available commercially e.g. under the name "FRESCOLAT, Type ML" from Haarmann & Reimer GmbH (Germany). It can also be readily made by processes known in the art by esterifiying the hydroxy group of menthol with lactic acid. Menthyl lactate is very well suited for oral administration because it is odorless and does not have any unpleasant taste.

The oral pharmaceutical compositions of the invention have valuable pharmacological properties. Especially they are beneficial in the treatment of acute or chronic diseases of the upper or lower respiratory tract, for example common cold, rhinitis or sinusitis, but also e.g. bronchitis or asthma.

The beneficial properties of menthyl lactate can be demonstrated, for example, in the following tests.

The inhibition of inflammatory mediators in monocytes may be demonstrated, for example, in the carrageenin induced paw edema test in the rat [see C. Winter et al., Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 1 1 1 (1962) 544-547].

The reduction of spontaneous tone in the guinea pig trachea can be demonstrated, for example, according to the test described in M. Wasserman et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol. 46 (1977) 303.

Expectorant activity can be demonstrated, for example, in the mouse according to the test described by H. Enger and I. Szelenyi in: The Pharmacological Methods, Elsevier Science Publishing Co., New York 1984, page 151.

The dosage of the active ingredient may depend on various factors, such as warm-blooded species, sex, age, weight and individual condition of the warm-blooded animal.

Normally the daily dosage which is administered to a warm-blooded animal weighing approximately 75 kg is from 0.4 up to 15 mg/kg, especially from 1 up to 7 mg/kg. This dose may be taken once daily or, if desired, also in several, optionally equal, partial doses.

"mg/kg" means mg drug per kg body weight of the mammal - including man - to be treated. The pharmaceutical compositions of the invention in single dose unit form typically contain of from about 1 % up to about 90%, preferably of from about 6% up to about 90%, more preferably of from about 8% up to about 85%, most preferably of from about 10% up to about 70% and especially of from about 10% up to about 50%, and formulations not in single dose unit form typically contain of from about 0.1 % up to about 40% of the active ingredient (menthyl lactate). All percentages given are percentages by weight, if not indicated otherwise. Single dose unit forms such as capsules, tablets, dragees or sachets contain e.g. from about 20 up to about 1000 mg, especially from 50 up to 500 mg, of the active ingredient.

Pharmaceutical compositions for oral administration are, for example, compositions in single dose unit forms, such as dragees, tablets or capsules. Moreover, sachets filled with the active substance in powder or granule form come into consideration. All these pharmaceutical compositions are prepared in a manner known perse, for example by means of conventional mixing, granulating or confectioning processes. For example, they can be obtained by combining the active ingredient with solid carriers, optionally granulating a resulting mixture and processing the mixture or granules, after the addition of suitable excipients, to form tablets or dragee cores.

Suitable carriers are especially fillers, such as sugars, for example lactose, saccharose, mannitol or sorbitol, cellulose preparations and/or calcium phosphates, for example tricalcium phosphate or calcium hydrogen phosphate, and also binders, such as starch pastes using, for example, corn, wheat, rice or potato starch, gelatin, tragacanth, methylcellulose and/or polyvinylpyrrolidone, and, if desired, disintegrators, such as the above-mentioned starches, also carboxymethyl starch, crosslinked polyvinylpyrrolidone, agar or alginic acid or a salt thereof, such as sodium alginate. Excipients are especially flow conditioners and lubricants, for example silicic acid, talc, stearic acid or salts thereof, such as magnesium or calcium stearate, and/or polyethylene glycol. Tablet cores, enteric coated tablet capsules or pellets, tablets and capsules may be provided with suitable, optionally enteric, coatings or coating solutions in suitable organic solvents or solvent mixtures or, for the preparation of enteric coatings, solutions of suitable cellulose preparations, such as acetylcellulose phthalate or hydroxypropylmethylcellulose phthalate or aqueous coatings, such as Eudragif L30D. Dragee cores are provided with suitable, optionally enteric, coatings, there being used, inter alia, concentrated sugar solutions which may comprise gum arabic, talc, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyethylene glycol and/or titanium dioxide, or coating solutions in suitable organic solvents or solvent mixtures, or, for the preparation of enteric coatings, solutions of suitable cellulose preparations, such as acetylcellulose phthalate or hydroxypropylmethylcellulose phthalate. Dyes or pigments may be added to the tablets or dragee coatings, for example for identification purposes or to indicate different doses of active ingredient.

Further pharmaceutical compositions to be administered orally and being in single dose unit form are e.g. hard gelatin capsules made of gelatin, and soft, sealed capsules made of gelatin and a plasticiser, such as glycerol or sorbitol. The hard gelatin capsules may comprise the active ingredient in the form of granules, for example in admixture with fillers, such as lactose, binders, such as starches, and/or glidants, such as talc or magnesium stearate, and, where appropriate, stabilisers. In soft capsules, the active ingredient is preferably dissolved or suspended in suitable liquids, such as fatty oils, paraffin oil or liquid polyethylene glycols, to which stabilisers may also be added.

Other oral dosage forms not being in single dose unit form, are, for example, syrups, liquid suspensions or solutions. They are prepared in customary manner. As already mentioned above, they typically contain menthyl lactate in an amount of from about 0.1 % up to about 40%, preferably of from about 6% up to about 40%, more preferably of from about 6% up to about 20%; or of from about 1 % up to about 20%; and especially of from about 10% up to about 20%, of the total composition.

Syrups, for example, comprise the active ingredient e.g. in suspended form and in a concentration of approximately from 1 to 20 %, preferably from 1 to 5 %, or in a concentration that provides a suitable single dose when administered e.g. in a measure of 5 or 10 ml.

Another embodiment of the invention is characterized by the pharmaceutical compositions as disclosed but which do not contain thymol.

The invention further relates to the use of menthyl lactate for the manufacture of a pharmaceutical composition adapted to oral administration for the treatment of acute or chronic diseases of the upper or lower respiratory tract, in particular common cold, rhinitis or sinusitis but also e.g. bronchitis or asthma, in mammals including man.

Moreover, the invention relates to a method of treating acute or chronic diseases of the upper or lower respiratory tract, in particular common cold, rhinitis or sinusitis but also e.g. bronchitis or asthma, which comprises orally administering to a mammal in need of such treatment a therapeutically effective amount of menthyl lactate.

The following examples are intended to exemplify but not to limit the invention.

Example 1 : Soft capsules: 5000 soft gelatin capsules, each comprising 50 mg of the active ingredient, menthyl lactate, are prepared as follows.

Composition (for 5 000 casules) active ingredient 250 g

Lauroglycof 2 1

Preparation process: The active ingredient is suspended in Lauroglycol" ( = propylene glycol laurate, Gattefosse S.A., Saint Priest, France) and ground to a particle size of approximately from 1 to 3 μm in a wet pulveriser. 419 mg portions of the mixture are then introduced into soft gelatin capsules by means of a capsule-filling machine.

Example 2: Soft capsules: 5000 soft gelatin capsules, each comprising 50 mg of the active ingredient, menthyl lactate, are prepared as follows.

Composition (for 5 000 casules) active ingredient 250 g

PEG 400 1 I

Tween 80* 1 I

Preparation process: The active ingredient is suspended in PEG 400 ( = polyethylene glycol with M_r from approximately 380 to approximately 420, Fluka, Switzerland) and Tween 80^® ( = polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate, Atlas Chem. Ind., Inc., USA, supplied by Fluka, Switzerland) and is ground to a particle size of approximately from 1 to 3 μm in a wet pulverizer. 430 mg portions of the mixture are then introduced into soft gelatin capsules by means of a capsule-filling machine.

Example 3: Dry-fill capsules: 5000 capsules, each comprising 250 mg of the active ingredient, menthyl lactate, are prepared as follows.

Composition (for 5000 capsules) active ingredient 1250 g talcum 180 g wheat starch 120 g magnesium stearate 20 g lactose 80 g

Preparation process: The powdered substances mentioned are pressed through a sieve having a mesh size of 0.6 mm. 330 mg portions of the mixture are introduced into gelatin capsules by means of a capsule-filling machine.

Example 4: Hard gelatin capsules containing 500 mg of the active ingredient, menthyl lactate, are prepared as follows.

Composition (for 1000 capsules) active ingredient 500 g lactose 250 g microcrystalline cellulose 30 g sodium lauryl sulfate 2.0 g magnesium stearate 8.0 g

Preparation process: The sodium lauryl sulfate is added through a sieve of 0.2 mesh size to the lyophilised active ingredient. The two components are intimately mixed. First the lactose is added through a sieve of 0.6 mm mesh width, and then the microcrystalline cellulose is added through a sieve of 0.9 mm mesh width. The mixture is again intimately mixed for 10 min. Finally, the magnesium stearate s added through a sieve of 0.8 mm mesh width. After stirring for a further 3 min, 790 mg portions of the resulting formulation are introduced into hard gelatin capsules of suitable size.

Example 5: Syrup containing 1 % of the active ingredient, menthyl lactate, is prepared as follows.

42 g p-hydroxybenzoic acid methyl ester, 18 g p-hydroxy benzoic acid n-propyl ester and - under warming - 100 g of the active ingredient are dissolved in 3 I of distilled water. 1.5 I glycerin, 4 I of 70 % sorbit solution, 1000g of crystalline saccharose, 350 g of glucose and fragrance, e.g. 250 g of Orange Peel Soluble Fluid" (Eli Lilly, Indianapolis, USA) or 5 g of natural lemon fragrance and 5 g of "Halb und Halb" essence (both of Haarmann and Reimer, Holzminden, Germany), are added, the solution obtained is filtered, and the filtrate is filled up to 10 I with distilled water.

Claims

1. A pharmaceutical composition adapted to oral administration comprising menthyl lactate together with at least one pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

2. A pharmaceutical composition according to claim 1 for use in the treatment of acute or chronic diseases of the upper or lower respiratory tract.

3. A pharmaceutical composition according to claim 1 , which is in single dose unit form and comprises menthyl lactate in an amount of from about 1 up to about 90 weight-% of the total composition.

4. A pharmaceutical composition according to claim 2, which is in single dose unit form and comprises menthyl lactate in an amount of from about 1 up to about 90 weight-% of the total composition.

5. A pharmaceutical composition according to claim 1 or claim 2, which is in single dose unit form and comprises menthyl lactate in an amount of from about 6 up to about 90 weight-% of the total composition.

6. A pharmaceutical composition according to claim 1 or claim 2, which is in single dose unit form and comprises menthyl lactate in an amount of from about 10 up to about 70 weight-% of the total composition.

7. A pharmaceutical composition according to claim 1 or claim 2, which is in single dose unit form and comprises menthyl lactate in an amount of from about 10 up to about 50 weight-% of the total composition.

8. A pharmaceutical composition according to any one of claims 1 -7, which is in single dose unit form and comprises menthyl lactate in an amount of from 20 mg up to 1000 mg.

9. A pharmaceutical composition according to any one of claims 1-7, which is in single dose unit form and comprises menthyl lactate in an amount of from 50 mg up to 500 mg.

10. A pharmaceutical composition according to claim 1 or claim 2, which is in the form of a syrup, a liquid suspension or a solution, which comprises menthyl lactate in an amount of from about 0.1 up to about 40 weight-% of the total composition.

11. A pharmaceutical composition according to claim 1 or claim 2, which is in the form of a syrup, a liquid suspension or a solution, which comprises menthyl lactate in an amount of from about 0.1 up to about 40 weight-% of the total composition, and which does not contain thymol.

12. A pharmaceutical composition according to claim 10 or claim 1 1 , which comprises menthyl lactate in an amount of from about 6 up to about 40 weight-% of the total composition.

13. A pharmaceutical composition according to claim 10 or claim 11 , which comprises menthyl lactate in an amount of from about 6 up to about 20 weight-% of the total composition.

14. Use of menthyl lactate for the manufacture of a pharmaceutical composition adapted to oral administration for the treatment of acute or chronic diseases of the upper or lower respiratory tract in mammals including man.

15. A method of treating acute or chronic diseases of the upper or lower respiratory tract, which comprises orally administering to a mammal in need of such treatment a therapeutically effective amount of menthyl lactate.