What is the role of over 100 excipients in over the counter (OTC) cough medicines?

Eccles, Ronald ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9492-2062 2020. What is the role of over 100 excipients in over the counter (OTC) cough medicines? Lung 198 , pp. 727-734. 10.1007/s00408-020-00390-x

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Abstract

Most medicines are white bitter powders that are formulated as tablets and capsules but cough medicines are an excep- tion where the taste and appearance of the medicine are more important to the patient than the pharmacology of the active ingredient. Excipients are generally defined as any ingredient in a medicine other than the active ingredient. In most medi- cines excipients play a supportive role in delivering the medicine, but in the case of cough medicines, excipients have more important and complex roles and they can also be the main active ingredient of the cough medicine as menthol, glycerol, and sugars, which are declared as active ingredients. This review searched the United Kingdom electronic medicines com- pendium (emc) and found over 100 excipients in 60 different liquid formulations of over the counter cough medicines. The excipients were divided into functional groups: sweeteners, thickeners, flavors, colors, antimicrobials, and buffers, and the incidence and function of the different excipients is discussed. When considering the efficacy of a cough medicine, clini- cians and pharmacists tend to think of the pharmacology of antitussives such as dextromethorphan or expectorants such as guaifenesin, and they rarely consider the role of excipients in the efficacy of the medicine. This review discusses the func- tions and importance of excipients in cough medicines and provides some new information for clinicians, pharmacists, and all interested in the treatment of cough when considering the composition and efficacy of a cough medicine.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Biosciences
Subjects:	R Medicine > RM Therapeutics. Pharmacology R Medicine > RS Pharmacy and materia medica
Publisher:	Springer
ISSN:	0341-2040
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	8 September 2020
Date of Acceptance:	20 August 2020
Last Modified:	03 May 2023 08:46
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/134690

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