Excipient (pharmacologically inactive substance)

What is it?

Dextrose (C6H12O6), also known as corn sugar, is a common binder used in the pharmaceutical industry. Binders are added to tablet formulations to add cohesiveness to powders and provide the necessary bonding to form a compact tablet mass. As a medical product, dextrose may be in fluids containing various amounts of sugars to be given when a patient needs additional fluids and calories for energy. It may also be used as a vehicle to provide other injectable medicines. There are two stereo-isomers of glucose, only one of which (D-glucose) is biologically active, and is often referred to as dextrose monohydrate (dextrose). The mirror-image of the molecule, L-glucose, cannot be metabolized by cells in the biochemical process known as glycolysis.^[1][2]