Control of API release with matrix polymorphism in tristearin microspheres.

Glycerides are widely employed as solid matrices in a range of pharmaceutical intermediates and dosage forms. Diffusion-based mechanisms are responsible for drug release, with both chemical and crystal polymorph differences in the solid lipid matrix cited as controlling factors in drug release rates. This work uses model formulations composed of crystalline caffeine embedded in tristearin to study the impacts to drug release from the two primary polymorphic states of tristearin and dependencies on the conversion routes between them.