Quantitative determination of micronization-induced changes in the solid state of lactose

Lactose, in particular α-lactose monohydrate, is the most used carrier for inhalation. Its surface and solid-state properties play a key role in determining Dry Powder Inhalers (DPIs) performance. Techniques such as X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), which are commonly used for the characterization of lactose, are not always capable of explaining the solid-state changes induced by processing, such as micronization. In the present work, the evaluation of the effect of the micronization process on the solid-state properties of lactose was carried out by XRPD and DSC and a satisfactory, although not unequivocal, interpretation of the thermal behaviour of lactose was obtained. Thus, a new gravimetric method correlating in a quantitative manner the weight change in specific sections of the Dynamic Vapour Sorption (DVS) profile and the amount of different forms of α-lactose (hygroscopic anhydrous, stable anhydrous and amorphous) simultaneously present in a given sample was developed and validated. The method is very simple and provides acceptable accuracy in phase quantitation (LOD = 1.6, 2.4 and 2.7%, LOQ = 5.4, 8.0 and 8.9% for hygroscopic anhydrous, stable anhydrous and amorphous α-lactose, respectively). The application of this method to a sample of micronized lactose led to results in agreement with those obtained by DSC and evidenced that hygroscopic anhydrous α-lactose, rather than amorphous lactose, can be generated in the micronization process. The proposed method may find a more general application for the quantification of polymorphs of compounds different than lactose, provided that the various solid phases afford different weight variations in specific regions of the DVS profile.