CAPSULES (KAPSUL) Prof. Dr. Henny Lucida, Apt

Definition Capsules: dosage forms in which unit doses of powder, semisolid, or liquid drugs are enclosed in either a hard or a soft envelope, or shell Capsules: 1.Hard gelatin capsules 2.Soft gelatin capsules

Application 1.The pharmacist who has access to the pure drug or another dosage form, can easily prepare that product to serve the needs of the individual primary care provider and patient 2.Some patients cannot swallow a tablet but they can swallow a capsule 3.Capsules enable pharmacist to combine several drug products into one capsule to minimize the number of tablets/products a patient must take

Capsules are not suitable for 1.Very water soluble drugs (salts: KCl, KBr, NH4Cl): water penetrating the capsule rapidly, dissolves the salt and creates a highly concentrated solution, may cause nausea and vomiting when it contacts the gastric mucosa 2.Strongly efflorescent material, which may cause the capsule to soften

Capsule size and app capacities (mL) Human SizesCapacity Veterinary SizesCapacity

Capsules can be used to encapsulate between 65 – 1000 mg of powdered material The capacity of a capsule depends of the density and characteristics of the powders it contain Selection of the right capsule size is determined by the bulk densities of active drugs and excipients

The rules of seven 1.Convert the weight of the powder per capsule to grains (1 grain = 65 mg) the number of grains 3.Match the result with the following listing ex: if the powder weight is 325 mg (5 grains), then 7 – 5 = 2, choose capsule size 2

The rule of seven Grains – 7Capsule size choosed or