Which excipient helps break up tablets in the gastrointestinal tract to ensure full release of the active ingredient?

Which excipient helps break up tablets in the gastrointestinal tract to ensure full release of the active ingredient?

• A. Lubricants
• B. Disintegrants
• C. Film Former/Coatings
• D. Absorption

Answer: (B)

The main concept is how excipients influence tablet disintegration to ensure the active ingredient is released efficiently. Disintegrants are the component that promotes breakup of a tablet once it’s in the GI tract. They work by absorbing water from the surrounding fluids and swelling or forming a porous network, which creates internal pressure that breaks the tablet apart into smaller fragments. This rapid disintegration increases the surface area available for dissolution, helping to release the active ingredient fully and improve its absorption. Without disintegrants, tablets can stay intact or dissolve slowly, limiting how much drug becomes available. Common disintegrants include starch derivatives and cross-linked polymers like sodium starch glycolate and crospovidone. Lubricants, while important for manufacturing and ejection, don’t drive disintegration, and coatings mainly control where or how quickly the tablet dissolves rather than breaking it apart. Absorption describes the process of drug uptake into the bloodstream, not a tablet-disintegration function.

The main concept is how excipients influence tablet disintegration to ensure the active ingredient is released efficiently. Disintegrants are the component that promotes breakup of a tablet once it’s in the GI tract. They work by absorbing water from the surrounding fluids and swelling or forming a porous network, which creates internal pressure that breaks the tablet apart into smaller fragments. This rapid disintegration increases the surface area available for dissolution, helping to release the active ingredient fully and improve its absorption. Without disintegrants, tablets can stay intact or dissolve slowly, limiting how much drug becomes available. Common disintegrants include starch derivatives and cross-linked polymers like sodium starch glycolate and crospovidone. Lubricants, while important for manufacturing and ejection, don’t drive disintegration, and coatings mainly control where or how quickly the tablet dissolves rather than breaking it apart. Absorption describes the process of drug uptake into the bloodstream, not a tablet-disintegration function.