Tablets and capsules

Question 1

What are the advantages of capsules?

Answer 1

1) Increase oral bioavailability
2) Liquids can be orally delivered as a unit

Question 2

What are the disadvantages of capsules?

Answer 2

1) Specialist manufacturing processes needed
2) Lack of stability

Question 3

What are the two types of capsules?

Answer 3

Hard and Soft

Question 4

What type of capsules have hemispherical ends and what is the benefit?

Answer 4

Hard - Resists deformation

Question 5

What is the composition of hard gelatin capsules?

Answer 5

1) Gelatin
2) Colourants
3) Wetting agents
4) Preservatives

Question 6

How is gelatin made?

Answer 6

Hydrolysis of collagen

Question 7

What are the 2 types of gelatin?

Answer 7

1) Type A - Acid hydrolysis of collagen, Pork skin
2) Type B - Alkali hydrolysis, animal bones

Question 8

Benefits of gelatin

Answer 8

1) Safe - non-toxic
2) Readily soluble
3) Flexiblity

Question 9

What is bloom strength?

Answer 9

Load in grams required to push required to push a plunger 4nm into a gel, is a quality control technique used for gelatin

Question 10

What does bloom strength measure?

Answer 10

Strength of gelatin
Hard = greater value
Soft = smaller value

Question 11

What are the 2 types of colourant?

Answer 11

1) Water soluble dyes
2) Water insoluble pigments

Question 12

What is used to make capsules opaque?

Answer 12

Titanium dioxide

Question 13

What is a wetting agent?

Answer 13

Means moulds are lubricated so get an even gelatin capsule

Question 14

What is the role of preservatives in hard gelatin capsules?

Answer 14

Prevents microbial contamination

Question 15

What excipients can be used for powder filling of a hard gelatin capsule?

Answer 15

1) Diluents
2)Lubricants
3) Glidants
4) Wetting agents
5) Disintegrants
6) Stabilisers

Question 16

What does a diluent do?

Answer 16

Increases volume

Question 17

What is the purpose of a glidant?

Answer 17

Reduce particle friction and increase flow

Question 18

What is the purpose of a lubricant?

Answer 18

Increases flow by reducing particle friction.
Improves compressibility

Question 19

What is the purpose of a disintegrant?

Answer 19

Break down the powder

Question 20

What is the purpose of a wetting agent?

Answer 20

Used when drug is insoluble, Promote increased solubility

Question 21

Which equation can be used to calculate the dissolution rate of a drug?

Answer 21

Noyes-Whitney:

dm/dt = DA(Cs-C)/h

Question 22

What is a soft gelatin capsule shell made of?

Answer 22

1) Gelatin
2) Plasticiser
3) Water
4) Flavours, colourants

Question 23

What arw the advantages of using a soft gel capsule?

Answer 23

1) Increased bioavailability
2) Increased patient compliance
Dose uniformity

Question 24

What is the key point of soft gel manufacturing?

Answer 24

Rotary die press - dosage the filling of the capsule

Question 25

What does water immiscible mean?

Answer 25

They wont mix together

Question 26

What can you fill a soft gel capsule with?

Answer 26

1) Lipophilic
2) Hydrophilic
3) Suspensions

Question 27

What isn’t suitable to fill a soft gel capsule with?

Answer 27

1) Aldehydes - harden shell, affect dissolution properties
2) Acidic or alkaline solutions