Drug-Phospholipid Complex-loaded Matrix Film Formulation for the Enhanced Transdermal Delivery of Quercetin

A novel quercetin-phospholipid-complex(QPLC)-loaded matrix film for improved transdermal delivery of quercetin was developed. The QPLC formulation, prepared using a solvent-evaporation method, was optimized using a central-composite design. The optimized QPLC formulation was characterized by particle size and zeta potential analysis, thermal analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR). QPLC formulation was functionally evaluated for solubility and in vitro dissolution of quercetin. Matrix films of pure quercetin (Q-MF)or QPLC QPLC-MF) were prepared using a solvent casting method. The prepared Q-MF and QPLC-MF were characterized for weight uniformity, folding endurance, moisture content, and moisture uptake. The films were also functionally characterized for in vitro diffusion of quercetin through a dialysis membrane and ex vivo permeability of quercetin across rat skin. Finally, the anti-inflammatory activity of the films was evaluated on carrageenan-induced paw edema in Wistar albino rats. The experimental design identified the optimal formulation and process variables for the preparation of QPLC. The validation of the obtained model using these values confirmed the suitability and robustness of the model. The physical-chemical characterization of the prepared QPLC supported the formation of a stable complex. The solubility analysis of QPLC showed a 22-fold increase in quercetin aqueous solubility, compared to pure quercetin. The dissolution results exhibited a significantly higher rate and extent of quercetin dissolution from QPLC compared to that of pure quercetin. The permeability of quercetin from Q-MF and QPLC-MF across rat skin mirrored those obtained from the dissolution studies. Topical application of QPLC-MF exhibited a significant (p\u3c0.05) inhibition of carrageenan-induced paw edema in rats compared to that of Q-MF. This study provides a promising combination approach, i.e., phospholipid-based complexation and transdermal film formulation for improved transdermal delivery of quercetin and similar pharmacologically active phytoconstituents

Glucosamine HCl-based solid dispersions to enhance the biopharmaceutical properties of acyclovir

The objective of the work presented here was to assess the feasibility of using glucosamine HCl as a solid-dispersion (SD) carrier to enhance the biopharmaceutical properties of a BCS class III/IV drug, acyclovir (ACV). The solid-dispersions of acyclovir and glucosamine HCl were prepared by an ethanol-based solvent evaporation method. The prepared formulations characterized by photomicroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transforms infrared spectrophotometry (FTIR), powder x-ray diffractometry (PXRD) and drug content analysis. The functional characterization of ACV-SD was performed by aqueous solubility evaluation, dissolution studies, fasted versus fed state dissolution comparison, ex vivo permeability, and stability studies. Photomicroscopy and SEM analysis showed different surface morphologies for pure ACV, glucosamine HCl and ACV-SD. The physical-chemical characterization studies supported the formation of ACV-SD. A 12-fold enhancement in the aqueous solubility of ACV was observed in the prepared solid dispersions, compared to pure ACV. Results from in vitro dissolution demonstrated a significant increase in the rate and extent of ACV dissolution from the prepared ACV-SD formulations, compared to pure ACV. The rate and extent of ACV permeability across everted rat intestinal membrane were also found to be significantly increased in the ACV-SD formulations. Under fed conditions, the rate and extent of the in vitro dissolution of ACV from the formulation was appreciably greater compared to fasted conditions. Overall, the results from the study suggest the feasibility of utilizing glucosamine HCl as a solid dispersion carrier/excipient for enhancement of biopharmaceutical properties of acyclovir, and similar drugs with low solubility/permeability characteristics

Adverse reactions to intravenous iodinated contrast media: a prospective study

Background: Adverse reactions to intravenous iodinated contrast media may be classified as general and organ-specific, such as contrast-induced nephrotoxicity. General adverse reactions may be sub classified into acute and delayed types. Acute general adverse reactions can range from transient minor reactions to life-threatening severe reactions. This study was done to determine clinical adverse effects of the iodinated contrast media.Methods: Data of 899 consecutive patients at C.U. Shah Medical College and Hospital, Surendranagar, who received sodium meglumine diatrizoate intravenous iodinated contrast media during the period of May 2011 to April 2012, were collected for any adverse drug reactions.Results: Out of 899, 189 patients developed adverse contrast reactions. The incidences of mild, moderate and severe adverse reactions were 19.47%, 1.33% and 0.28%, respectively. There were no differences in the incidence of adverse reactions according to gender (males 21.1%; females 20.7%; p= >0.05) or age (p= >0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions was significantly higher in patients with a history of previous reactions (50%) than in those with no history (21.25%; p= <0.05).Conclusions: The skin was the most commonly affected site of reactions. In reactions, mild forms were more common compared to moderate and severe

Causality assessment, severity and preventability of adverse drug reactions due to first-line antitubercular agents

TB (Tuberculosis) is a common infectious disease affecting humans since very long time. Multidrug therapy with its associated adverse drug reactions is one of the major concerns for the management of TB. The current study has been conducted for identifying causality assessment, severity as well as preventability of first-line anti-tubercular agents. All the diagnosed patients of tuberculosis attending TB and chest department of tertiary care hospital of western India and received Anti-TB drugs over 6 months enrolled in the study. Demographic details, suspected drugs/groups, causality assessment, severity assessment, and preventability assessment were analyzed from reported suspected ADR (adverse drug reaction) forms. Throughout the research period of 6 months, 500 patients received Anti- TB drugs. Among them, (10%) 50 patients developed 121 adverse drug reactions. According to the WHO causality scale, 66 (54.54%) ADRs were classified as ‘probable’ and 53 (43.8%) ADR were ‘possible’. More than half of the reactions (31, 62%) were mild on the severity scale while most of the ADRs were definitely (34, 68%) preventable as per the preventability scale. Gastrointestinal system is the most common affected system (54, 47.62%) followed by dermatological disorders (26, 23.01%) and Liver and biliary system (20, 16.52%). Isoniazid (46, 38%) and Rifampicin (40, 33%) were the common cause of first-line antitubercular agents for ADRs. ADRs to antitubercular agents are a major concern for patient compliance. Patient education, intensive reporting, and management can be helpful to improve the outcome of antitubercular therapy

Diabetic foot ulcer and its surgical management

Background: Almost 80% population of diabetic foot are from low to middle income countries like India, a country with second largest number of diabetic populations. Prevalence of diabetes mellitus in India is 9.3%. Lower extremity diseases, including peripheral neuropathy, peripheral arterial disease, and foot ulceration, is twice common in diabetic subjects. the most feared consequence of diabetic foot ulcer is limb amputation, which is seen 10 to 30 times more often in person with diabetes. The objective of this study concentrates on surgical management of diabetic foot ulcer.Methods: This is an observational prospective study of 100 cases for evaluation of diabetic foot ulcer and its surgical management at P.D.U. Hospital, Rajkot from January 2017 to November 2018.Results: The average age of presentation is 55.70 year. The male to female ratio was 1.27:1. Most of the patients are from lower middle class and upper lower class according to modified kuppuswamy socioeconomic classification. Most of the patients have duration of diabetes more than 5 years.  Most common microorganism grown from culture was Staphylococcus aureus. This study has higher rate of amputations of 74% due to late presentation and neglected disease due to peripheral neuropathy causes decreased pain sensation. There was no mortality in this study.Conclusions: Management of diabetic foot ulcer is by multimodal approach with conservative and surgical approaches. Preventive measures, early diagnosis and timely surgical intervention prevents limb amputations in diabetic foot ulcer

Crop Updates 2001 - Cereals

This session covers forty two papers from different authors: PLENARY 1. Planning your cropping program in season 2001, Dr Ross Kingwell, Agriculture Western Australia and University of Western Australia WORKSHOP 2. Can we produce high yields without high inputs? Wal Anderson, Centre for Cropping Systems, Agriculture Western Australia VARIETIES 3. Local and interstate wheat variety performance and $ return to WA growers, Eddy Pol, Peter Burgess and Ashley Bacon, Agritech Crop Research CROP ESTABLISHMENT 4 Soil management of waterlogged soils, D.M. Bakker, G.J. Hamilton, D. Houlbrooke and C. Spann, Agriculture Western Australia 5. Effect of soil amelioration on wheat yield in a very dry season, M.A Hamza and W.K. Anderson, Agriculture Western Australia 6. Fuzzy tramlines for more yield and less weed, Paul Blackwell1 and Maurice Black2 1Agriculture Western Australia, 2Harbour Lights Estate, Geraldton 7. Tramline farming for dollar benefits, Paul Blackwell, Agriculture Western Australia NUTRITION 8. Soil immobile nutrients for no-till crops, M.D.A. Bolland1, R.F. Brennan1,and W.L. Crabtree2, 1Agriculture Western Australia, 2Western Australian No-Tillage Farmers Association 9. Burn stubble windrows: to diagnose soil fertility problems, Bill Bowden, Chris Gazey and Ross Brennan, Agriculture Western Australia 10. Calcium: magnesium ratios; are they important? Bill Bowden1, Rochelle Strahan2, Bob Gilkes2 and Zed Rengel2 1Agriculture Western Australia, 2Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, UWA 11. Responses to late foliar applications of Flexi-N, Stephen Loss, Tim O’Dea, Patrick Gethin, Ryan Guthrie, Lisa Leaver, CSBP futurefarm 12. A comparison of Flexi-N placements, Stephen Loss, Tim O’Dea, Patrick Gethin, Ryan Guthrie, Lisa Leaver, CSBP futurefarm 13. What is the best way to apply potassium? Stephen Loss, Tim O’Dea, Patrick Gethin, Ryan Guthrie, CSBP futurefarm 14. Claying affects potassium nutrition in barley, Stephen Loss, David Phelps, Tim O’Dea, Patrick Gethin, Ryan Guthrie, Lisa Leaver, CSBP futurefarm 15. Nitrogen and potassium improve oaten hay quality, Stephen Loss, Tim O’Dea, Patrick Gethin, Ryan Guthrie, Lisa Leaver, CSBP futurefarm AGRONOMY 16. Agronomic responses of new wheat varieties in the northern wheatbelt, Darshan Sharma and Wal Anderson, Agriculture Western Australia 17. Wheat agronomy research on the south coast, Mohammad Amjad and Wal Anderson, Agriculture Western Australia 18. Influence of sowing date on wheat yield and quality in the south coast environment, Mohammad Amjadand Wal Anderson, Agriculture Western Australia 19. More profit from durum, Md.Shahajahan Miyan and Wal Anderson, Agriculture Western Australia 20. Enhancing recommendations of flowering and yield in wheat, JamesFisher1, Senthold Asseng2, Bill Bowden1 and Michael Robertson3 ,1AgricultureWestern Australia, 2CSIRO Plant Industry, 3CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems 21. When and where to grow oats, Glenn McDonald, Agriculture Western Australia 22. Managing Gaidner barley for quality, Kevin Young and Blakely Paynter, Agriculture Western Australia PESTS AND DISEASES 23. Strategies for leaf disease management in wheat, Jatinderpal Bhathal1, Cameron Weeks2, Kith Jayasena1 and Robert Loughman1 ,1Agriculture Western Australia. 2Mingenew-Irwin Group Inc 24. Strategies for leaf disease management in malting barley, K. Jayasena1, Q. Knight2 and R. Loughman1, 1Agriculture Western Australia, 2IAMA Agribusiness 25. Cereal disease diagnostics, Dominie Wright and Nichole Burges, Agriculture Western Australia 26. The big rust: Did you get your money back!! Peter Burgess, Agritech Crop Research 27. Jockey – winning the race against disease in wheat, Lisa-Jane Blacklow, Rob Hulme and Rob Giffith, Aventis CropScience 28. Distribution and incidence of aphids and barley yellow dwarf virus in over-summering grasses in WA wheatbelt, Jenny Hawkes and Roger Jones, CLIMA and Agriculture Western Australia 29. Further developments in forecasting aphid and virus risk in cereals, Debbie Thackray, Jenny Hawkes and Roger Jones, Agriculture Western Australia and Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture 30. Effect of root lesion nematodes on wheat yields in Western Australia, S. B. Sharma, S. Kelly and R. Loughman, Crop Improvement Institute, Agriculture Western Australia 31. Rotational crops and varieties for management of root lesion nematodes in Western Australia, S.B. Sharma, S. Kelly and R. Loughman, Crop Improvement Institute, Agriculture Western Australia WEEDS 32. Phenoxy herbicide tolerance of wheat, Peter Newman and Dave Nicholson, Agriculture Western Australia 33. Tolerance of wheat to phenoxy herbicides,Harmohinder S. Dhammu, Terry Piper and Mario F. D\u27Antuono, Agriculture Western Australia 34. Herbicide tolerance of durum wheats, Harmohinder S. Dhammu, Terry Piper and David Nicholson, Agriculture Western Australia 35. Herbicide tolerance of new wheats, Harmohinder S. Dhammu, Terry Piper and David F. Nicholson, Agriculture Western Australia BREEDING 36. Towards molecular breeding of barley: construction of a molecular genetic map, Mehmet Cakir1, Nick Galwey1, David Poulsen2, Garry Ablett3, Reg Lance4, Rob Potter5 and Peter Langridge6,1Plant Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, UWA, 2Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Qld, 3Centre for Plant Conservation Genetics Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW, 5SABC Murdoch University, WA, 6Department of Plant Science University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond SA 37. Toward molecular breeding of barley: Identifying markers linked to genes for quantitative traits, Mehmet Cakir1, Nick Galwey1, David Poulsen2, Reg Lance3, Garry Ablett4, Greg Platz2, Joe Panozzo5, Barbara Read6, David Moody5, Andy Barr7 and Peter Langridge7 , 1Plant Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, UWA, 2Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Warwick, QLD,3Agriculture Western Australia, 4Centre for Plant Conservation Genetics, Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW, 5VIDA Private Bag 260, Horsham VIC, 6NSW Dept. of Agriculture, Wagga Wagga NSW, 7Department of Plant Science, University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond SA 38. Can we improve grain yield by breeding for greater early vigour in wheat? Tina Botwright1, Tony Condon1, Robin Wilson2 and Iain Barclay2, 1CSIRO Plant Industry, 2Agriculture Western Australia MARKETING AND QUALITY 39. The Crop Improvement Royalty, Howard Carr, Agriculture Western Australia 40. GrainGuardÔ - The development of a protection plan for the wheat industry, Greg Shea, Agriculture Western Australia CLIMATE 41. Rainfall – what happened in 2000 and the prospects for 2001, Ian Foster, Agriculture Western Australia 42. Software for climate management issues, David Tennant,Agriculture Western Australia CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR CONTACT DETAIL

Saxagliptin: A dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a metabolic disorder characterized by insulin deficiency or resistance. Management starts with single oral antidiabetic drug (OAD) but eventually switch over to combination therapy because of progressive β-cell dysfunction. Hypoglycemia, weight gain, and adverse cardiovascular events are major limitations of the available OADs (Sulfonylureas [SUs], thiazolidinediones [TZDs]). Saxagliptin, a reversible, competitive dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, is recently approved agent in the treatment of T2DM. It acts by preventing the degradation of glucagon-like peptide – 1 and hence increases secretion of insulin and decreases secretion of glucagon. It is a well-tolerated agent with commonly reported adverse events which include upper respiratory tract infection, urinary tract infection, and headache. Hypoglycemia, weight gain, and adverse cardiovascular events are negligible as compared with other OADs. In clinical studies, saxagliptin was found to be effective and well tolerated when used as a monotherapy as well as in combination with metformin, SUs and TZDs. It is administered in the dose range of 2.5 to 5 mg once a day regardless of meal. Dosage reduction is required in patients having moderate to severe renal impairment as well as with concurrent administration of strong CYP3A4/5 inhibitors. To conclude, saxagliptin because of its novel mechanism of action (preserving beta cell function) and better tolerability profile seems to be a promising agent in the treatment of T2DM, especially in the early stage of the disease, but long-term clinical studies are required to prove its status in the management of T2DM

Causality assessment, severity and preventability of adverse drug reactions due to first-line antitubercular agents

TB (Tuberculosis) is a common infectious disease affecting humans since very long time. Multidrug therapy with its associated adverse drug reactions is one of the major concerns for the management of TB. The current study has been conducted for identifying causality assessment, severity as well as preventability of first-line anti-tubercular agents. All the diagnosed patients of tuberculosis attending TB and chest department of tertiary care hospital of western India and received Anti-TB drugs over 6 months enrolled in the study. Demographic details, suspected drugs/groups, causality assessment, severity assessment, and preventability assessment were analyzed from reported suspected ADR (adverse drug reaction) forms. Throughout the research period of 6 months, 500 patients received Anti-TB drugs. Among them, (10%) 50 patients developed 121 adverse drug reactions. According to the WHO causality scale, 66 (54.54%) ADRs were classified as ‘probable’ and 53 (43.8%) ADR were ‘possible’. More than half of the reactions (31, 62%) were mild on the severity scale while most of the ADRs were definitely (34, 68%) preventable as per the preventability scale. Gastrointestinal system is the most common affected system (54, 47.62%) followed by dermatological disorders (26, 23.01%) and Liver and biliary system (20, 16.52%). Isoniazid (46, 38%) and Rifampicin (40, 33%) were the common cause of first-line antitubercular agents for ADRs. ADRs to antitubercular agents are a major concern for patient compliance. Patient education, intensive reporting, and management can be helpful to improve the outcome of antitubercular therapy.