Review article: mechanisms of drug release from tablets and capsules. 2. Dissolution

Optimal drug dissolution is crucial to the success of oral drug therapy. Slow dissolution has frequently been correlated with poor or erratic performance of oral dosage forms in vivo, and drugs of low aqueous solubility provide a major challenge to the designer of modern oral dosage forms. In this second of two reviews, we briefly describe the physical process of dissolution, the principal factors controlling drug dissolution from tablets and capsules, and the strategies that are utilized by pharmaceutical scientists to enhance drug dissolution of orally administered drugs.