Drugs are sometimes covered with oblate or agar jelly. It is said that the medicinal effect of drugs covered with oblate is slow, but no studies have reported results confirming this. Therefore, we examined the dissolution behavior when the drug was covered with oblate or agar jelly. Three types of commercially available formulations of benzodiazepine were used: medazepam sugarcoated tablets, prazepam uncoated tablets, and clorazepate dipotassium capsules. Dissolution tests were performed using solutions of pH 1.2 and 5.6 to simulate normal gastric juice and gastric anacidity, respectively. Drugs covered with oblate were tested by the paddle method, and those covered with agar jelly were tested using the rotating basket method. Dissolution of clorazepate capsules not covered with oblate increased by approximately 10% when the pH was adjusted from 1.2 to 5.6, while those of medazepam and prazepam tablets decreased by approximately 40-60%. In contrast, the dissolution decreased significantly at both pH values for each drug covered with oblate. Dissolution further decreased when the amount of oblate was doubled. No detectable dissolution of medazepam tablets or of clorazepate capsules occurred when the drug was covered with agar jelly. Dissolution of prazepam tablets covered with agar jelly was only about 10% at the end of the test. These results indicate that dissolution is slowed and prolonged when a drug is covered with oblate or agar jelly, permitting sustained release of the drug. But, it is necessary to improve a suitable method for the dissolution.
