title: Rapidly disintegrating oramucosal drug delivery technologies.
abstract: In addition to successfully delivering drugs to a specific site within the body, a goal of any drug delivery system is to improve patient compliance. Thus, rapidly disintegrating oramucosal drug delivery systems are the focus of extensive research due to their ability to rapidly and efficiently deliver drugs. These drug delivery systems are able to release the drug as soon as they come into contact with saliva, thus obliviating the need for water during administration which is an attribute that makes them highly attractive for patient groups such as infants, pediatrics and geriatrics. The significant physiological and anatomical structural features of the oral cavity, the rationale behind the formulation and use of rapidly disintegrating technologies for oramucosal drug delivery, and the technologies that are currently available on the market or that are still under various stages of development is also discussed in this review article. The various technologies are described in terms of their methods of formulation and known mechanisms of drug release. The challenges posed by accurate in vitro disintegration and dissolution testing of rapidly disintegrating drug delivery systems employing conventional and the most recent novel methodologies are also discussed, including the use of ex-vivo permeation studies and in vivo models.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Deshika
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: Viness
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pillay
authors.forename: Yahya E
authors.initials: YE
authors.lastname: Choonara
authors.forename: Lisa C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: du Toit
mesh_terms: D001682:Biological Availability; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations