Vaginal drug delivery systems: A Review of Current Status

Among the various routes of drug delivery, the vaginal route offers many advantages due to its large permeation area, rich vascularization, avoidance of first pass metabolism and relatively low enzymatic activity. Several studies have shown that the vaginal cavity is an effective route for drug administration intended mainly for local action. In addition, it has the potential of delivering drugs for systemic effects and uterine targeting. Use of the vaginal mucosa for drug absorption was first attempted by Sobrero and since then much research has been done on the administration of drugs through this route. In recent years, the level of interest in the design and application of different dosage forms for vaginal use has increased considerably. Vaginal drug delivery specifically refers to the delivery of drugs within or through the vaginal mucosa for local or systemic pharmacological action. The rate and extent of drug absorption after intravaginal administration may vary depending on vaginal physiology, age of the patient, stage in the menstrual cycle, pathological conditions and formulation factors. This review highlights the benefits and limitations of vaginal drug delivery, methodology in evaluation of vaginal drug delivery systems, pharmaceutical aspects and gives a summary of recent advances made in the field of vaginal drug delivery. The various dosage forms in different stages of development and in the market are also reviewed. Keywords: Vaginal delivery, microbicide delivery, solubility modifier, bioadhesion; formulation design.East and Central African Journal of Pharmaceutical Studies Vol. 10 (1) 2007: pp. 3-1

Ground Water Management Through Well Recharge in Kutch

Natural resources of soil and water need to be conserved, developed and utilized efficiently for achieving sustainable and successful agriculture. Groundwater resource, generally considered unlimited and dependable, is undergoing depletion and quality deterioration due to its withdrawal far exceeding the natural replenishment in many regions of the country. There is, however, a vast potential to prevent rainfall runoff moving down into the streams and rivers and ultimately into the sea. Recently well recharge technology is emerging as a good water harvesting technology in the Kutch region. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Mundra has taken up the project to transfer the well recharging as a low cost rainwater harvesting technology to the farmers of Mundra taluka of Kutch district since 1994. To measure the impact of this programme a study was conducted on 20 wells in the region. It was found, that desilting basin is an essential component of well recharge unit in Mundra region because of the high silt content of the runoff water. The average water level rise in the treated well ranged from 3 to 5 m

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Not AvailableThe low productivity of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in India and several African countries is ascribed to many biotic stresses of which, two foliar fungal-diseases namely, late leaf spot (LLS) and rust are widespread and economically most important. Partial saturation of peanut linkage map and use of different mapping populations have led to the identification of various SSR markers linked to these diseases along with their linkage groups. In the present investigation, 22 SSR markers linked to rust and LLS diseases resistance were tested on 95 diverse genotypes for marker validation, of which 16 SSRs could be validated. Among rust resistant varieties and germplasm lines, nearly perfect marker validation was recorded but for 30 wild Arachis species, marker validation was very poor. Maximum numbers of rust and LLS linked-markers were found to be present on the linkage group 03 (eight SSRs) followed by linkage group 04 (three SSRs) which is an important step towards identification of more closely linked markers to the rust and LLS resistance QTLs and its cloning in future. Cluster analysis also grouped these foliar fungal disease resistant and susceptible genotypes separately except for those resistant genotypes where marker amplification was very poor. The results of principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) were comparable to the cluster analysis. This study will help in selection of suitable parents and marker combination for marker assisted breeding for foliar disease resistance in peanut.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableSclerotium rolfsii is one of the dreaded pathogen which causes stem-rot disease by infecting groundnut from seedling to maturity stages and causes potential yield losses. Molecular markers, linked with stem-rot disease resistance gene/QTLs can facilitate the identification of resistant genotypes. In the present study, a stem-rot susceptible genotype (TG-37A) and a stem-rot resistant genotype (NRCG CS85) were crossed and their F2 population was used for SSR marker analysis. For the phenotypic data, F2:3 progenies were screened for stem-rot disease incidence. Parental polymorphism survey was done using 1266 SSR primer pairs so as to identify the polymorphic markers. Among these SSRs, 52 were found to be polymorphic between the parental combination (TG-37A x NRCG CS85).These markers were further utilized for bulked segregant analysis (BSA). Among the polymorphic SSRs, three primers DGR294, DGR470 and DGR510 were able to distinguish both resistant and susceptible bulks and individual plants constituting the bulks. Further genotyping of whole population using identified markers is under way, which may confirm the linkage of putatively linked markers to with the stem-rot resistance.Not Availabl

Hierarchical Polyoxometallate Confined in Woven Thin Films for Single-Cluster Catalysis: Simplified Electrodes for Far-Fetched O₂ Evolution from Seawater

The highly anticipated artificial conversion of water to oxygen for the imperishable growth of renewable energy requires efficient water oxidation catalysts (WOCs) to drive the exciting 4e– transformation at low driving potentials. Herein, we describe the freestanding thin film of P5Q7 (TFPQ), where Preyssler [P5W30O110]14– (P5) clusters are woven with [CH3(CH2)6]4N(Br) chains (Q7) to confine P5 clusters and maximize its catalytic exposure. The TFPQ-supported electrode shows OER at record-low overpotentials at 10 mAcm2 (η10 = 130 and 490 mV), rapid migration of electrons (Tafel, 35 and 56 mVdec–1), turnover frequency (TOF, 8.55 s–1), in alkaline water (1 M KOH), and natural seawater, respectively. Evenly dispersed and confined conducting P5 clusters with a delocalized charge cloud shows ∼3 times lower η10 and eventually high OER efficiency than nonconfined clusters. The TFPQ electrodes showed a prolonged stability of minimum 1000 cycles in alkaline water and seawater, without the leaching of true catalytic species P5

Hierarchical Polyoxometallate Confined in Woven Thin Films for Single-Cluster Catalysis: Simplified Electrodes for Far-Fetched O₂ Evolution from Seawater

The highly anticipated artificial conversion of water to oxygen for the imperishable growth of renewable energy requires efficient water oxidation catalysts (WOCs) to drive the exciting 4e– transformation at low driving potentials. Herein, we describe the freestanding thin film of P5Q7 (TFPQ), where Preyssler [P5W30O110]14– (P5) clusters are woven with [CH3(CH2)6]4N(Br) chains (Q7) to confine P5 clusters and maximize its catalytic exposure. The TFPQ-supported electrode shows OER at record-low overpotentials at 10 mAcm2 (η10 = 130 and 490 mV), rapid migration of electrons (Tafel, 35 and 56 mVdec–1), turnover frequency (TOF, 8.55 s–1), in alkaline water (1 M KOH), and natural seawater, respectively. Evenly dispersed and confined conducting P5 clusters with a delocalized charge cloud shows ∼3 times lower η10 and eventually high OER efficiency than nonconfined clusters. The TFPQ electrodes showed a prolonged stability of minimum 1000 cycles in alkaline water and seawater, without the leaching of true catalytic species P5

Hierarchical Polyoxometallate Confined in Woven Thin Films for Single-Cluster Catalysis: Simplified Electrodes for Far-Fetched O₂ Evolution from Seawater

The highly anticipated artificial conversion of water to oxygen for the imperishable growth of renewable energy requires efficient water oxidation catalysts (WOCs) to drive the exciting 4e– transformation at low driving potentials. Herein, we describe the freestanding thin film of P5Q7 (TFPQ), where Preyssler [P5W30O110]14– (P5) clusters are woven with [CH3(CH2)6]4N(Br) chains (Q7) to confine P5 clusters and maximize its catalytic exposure. The TFPQ-supported electrode shows OER at record-low overpotentials at 10 mAcm2 (η10 = 130 and 490 mV), rapid migration of electrons (Tafel, 35 and 56 mVdec–1), turnover frequency (TOF, 8.55 s–1), in alkaline water (1 M KOH), and natural seawater, respectively. Evenly dispersed and confined conducting P5 clusters with a delocalized charge cloud shows ∼3 times lower η10 and eventually high OER efficiency than nonconfined clusters. The TFPQ electrodes showed a prolonged stability of minimum 1000 cycles in alkaline water and seawater, without the leaching of true catalytic species P5

A Novel Itraconazole Bioadhesive Film for Vaginal Delivery: Design, Optimization, and Physicodynamic Characterization

The purpose of this work was to design and optimize a novel vaginal drug delivery system for more effective treatment against vaginal candidiasis. Itraconazole was formulated in bioadhesive film formulations that could be retained in the vagina for prolonged intervals. The polymeric films were prepared by solvent evaporation and optimized for various physicodynamic and aesthetic properties. In addition, percentage drug retained on vaginal mucosa was evaluated using a simulated dynamic vaginal system as function of time. A polymeric film containing 100 mg itraconazole per unit (2.5 cm × 2.5 cm) have been developed using generally regarded as safe listed excipients. The pH of vaginal film was found to be slightly acidic (4.90 ± 0.04) in simulated vaginal fluid and alkaline (7.04 ± 0.07) in water. The little moisture content (7.66 ± 0.51% w/w) was present in the film, which helps them to remain stable and kept them from being completely dry and brittle. The mechanical properties, tensile strength, and percentage elongation at break (9.64 N/mm2 and 67.56% for ITRF65) reveal that the formulations were found to be soft and tough. The films (ITRF65) contained solid dispersion of itraconazole (2.5)/hydroxypropyl cellulose (1)/polyethylene glycol 400 (0.5), which was found to be the optimal composition for a novel bioadhesive vaginal formulation, as they showed good peelability, relatively good swelling index, and moderate tensile strength and retained vaginal mucosa up to 8 h. Also, the film did not markedly affect normal vaginal flora (lactobacillus) and was noncytotoxic as indicated by the negligible decrease in cell viability