A review of disintegration mechanisms and measurement techniques
Open accessAbstract
Pharmaceutical solid dosage forms (tablets or capsules) are the predominant form to administer active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to the patient. Tablets are typically powder compacts consisting of several different excipients in addition to the API. Excipients are added to a formulation in order to achieve the desired fill weight of a dosage form, to improve the processability or to affect the drug release behaviour in the body. These complex porous systems undergo different mechanisms when they come in contact with physiological fluids. The performance of a drug is primarily influenced by the disintegration and dissolution behaviour of the powder compact. The disintegration process is specifically critical for immediate-release dosage forms. Its mechanisms and the factors impacting disintegration are discussed and methods used to study the disintegration in-situ are presented. This review further summarises mathematical models used to simulate disintegration phenomena and to predict drug release kinetics.
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Open porosity is crucial for enabling fluid access and initiating tablet dissolution.
“The open porosity, i.e., the pore space accessible from the surface, is crucial for enabling fluid access and initiating tablet dissolution, which is an essential process in an effective treatment using an orally delivered drug product.”
From Measuring Open Porosity of Porous Materials Using THz-TDS and an Index-Matching Medium (2020) · cites this paper as [6]
Disintegration time is known to largely depend on tablet porosity and is in many cases the rate-determining process.
“DT is known to largely dependent on the tablet porosity and it is in many cases the rate-determining process [6,7].”
From Measuring Open Porosity of Porous Materials Using THz-TDS and an Index-Matching Medium (2020) · cites this paper as [6]
For IR tablets, drug release and dissolution cannot occur without disintegration.
“tablet disintegration is a necessary requirement for release and dissolution of the drug from IR tablets”
From A Fast and Non-destructive Terahertz Dissolution Assay for Immediate Release Tablets (2021) · cites this paper as [22]
High tablet porosity permits rapid liquid penetration and wicking, which exposes the disintegrant to solvent, increases swelling, and leads to tablet breakdown.
“Generally, high tablet porosities allow fast liquid penetration/wicking rate, which then quickly exposes the disintegrant to the penetrating solvent and thus culminating in an increased swelling rate and the final breakdown of the tablet 22 .”
From A Fast and Non-destructive Terahertz Dissolution Assay for Immediate Release Tablets (2021) · cites this paper as [22]
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References 205 · Cited by 439
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- [24]Maney P Kuever R Enteric coating Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association 1941 30 10 276 82
- [142]Yassin S, Goodwin DJ, Anderson A, Zeitler JA. The Disintegration Process in Microcrystalline Cellulose Based Tablets, Part 2: Role of Binder, Disintegrant, Lubricant and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 2017;p. submitted.
- Authors
- Markl, D., & Zeitler, J. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Zeitler, J. Axel
- Venue
- Pharmaceutical Research
- Published
- 2017-03-01
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 890-917
- ISSN
- 0724-8741 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-904X
- PMC
- PMC5382187
- OpenAlex
- W2592176131
- Cited by
- 439
- References
- 205
- Citations by year
- 2026: 58 · 2025: 54 · 2024: 64 · 2023: 65 · 2022: 48 · 2021: 57 · 2020: 48 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 5
- FWCI
- 2.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Pharmaceutical Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Strathprints: The University of Strathclyde institutional repository (University of Strathclyde) (submittedVersion)
- Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Apollo (cc-by)
- Funders
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/L019922/1)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmaceutical Science › Drug Solubulity and Delivery Systems
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Computational Mechanics › Granular flow and fluidized beds
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Crystallization and Solubility Studies
- Keywords
- tablet disintegration, disintegration mechanism, pharmaceutical solid dosage forms, pharmaceutical excipients, immediate-release formulation, dissolution, drug release kinetics
- MeSH terms
- Capsules, Chemistry, Pharmaceutical, Excipients, Humans, Powders, Solubility, Tablets, Technology, Pharmaceutical
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