Levofloxacin: Insights into antibiotic resistance and product quality

Counterfeit and substandard medicines are recognized as one of serious threats to public health. The product quality of antibacterial medicine will compromise patients' recovery and increase the chance of antibacterial resistance. The review aims to provide a summary of low quality levofloxacin issues and the risk factors as well as suggesting the aspects of product quality that need to be regulated strictly. Quality of the active ingredient, levofloxacin, has an important role to contribute to successful therapy. The poor quality of raw material, directly and indirectly, causes treatment failure as the presence of insufficient dose, mislabeled content, and poor dissolution characteristics can lead to lower bioavailability. Identifying and reporting these factors can potentially help in improving the quality of drug marketed in various developing countries and may also reduce the incidences of treatment failure. Dissolution test is used for testing the dissolution profiles and the rate of drug release from solid formulation such as oral formulations, thus providing information regarding the in vivo performance of a formulation and its bioequivalence. On the other hand, quality-Testing procedures are used for comparing the quality of products

Oral and transdermal drug delivery systems: role of lipid-based lyotropic liquid crystals

Rajan Rajabalaya, Muhammad Nuh Musa, Nurolaini Kifli, Sheba R David PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam Abstract: Liquid crystal (LC) dosage forms, particularly those using lipid-based lyotropic LCs (LLCs), have generated considerable interest as potential drug delivery systems. LCs have the physical properties of liquids but retain some of the structural characteristics of crystalline solids. They are compatible with hydrophobic and hydrophilic compounds of many different classes and can protect even biologicals and nucleic acids from degradation. This review, focused on research conducted over the past 5 years, discusses the structural evaluation of LCs and their effects in drug formulations. The structural classification of LLCs into lamellar, hexagonal and micellar cubic phases is described. The structures of these phases are influenced by the addition of surfactants, which include a variety of nontoxic, biodegradable lipids; these also enhance drug solubility. LLC structure influences drug localization, particle size and viscosity, which, in turn, determine drug delivery properties. Through several specific examples, we describe the applications of LLCs in oral and topical drug formulations, the latter including transdermal and ocular delivery. In oral LLC formulations, micelle compositions and the resulting LLC structures can determine drug solubilization and stability as well as intestinal transport and absorption. Similarly, in topical LLC formulations, composition can influence whether the drug is retained in the skin or delivered transdermally. Owing to their enhancement of drug stability and promotion of controlled drug delivery, LLCs are becoming increasingly popular in pharmaceutical formulations. Keywords: liquid crystal, drug delivery, controlled release, lyotropic, surfactants, drug localizatio