Optimization of Lovastatin Self-Nanoemulsifying Solid Dosage Form

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I am very thankful to Dr Sanjay S. Patel for his great support for this research work. We are also thankful to Manager of Abitech Corporation, USA, Corel Chemical Ltd., Ahmedabad, and Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Ahmedabad for providing us necessary ingredients. We are thankful to Shri B. M. Shah College of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Modasa for providing technical support in form of instruments and guidance.Aim: The aim of present study was to develop and optimized self-nanoemulsifying solid dosage form (SNESDF) of Lovastatin for enhancing its solubility. Lovastatin (whose water solubility is 0.4 x 10-3 mg/mL) is considered to be a reasonable drug because of its high log P value (4.3) and good solubility in oils. Materials and Methods: The formulations were optimized by Box-Behnken statistical design in which the independent variables like Ratio of surfactant: co-surfactant (X1), oil: surfactant co surfactant (X2), and % Aerosil (X3). The formulations were characterized for its dependent variables such as Droplet size (Y1), transmittance (Y3), percentage of drug released within 5 minutes (Y3), and within 15 minutes (Y4). Results and Conclusion: Droplet size and zeta potential of the optimized batch was found to be 21.89 nm and -6.4 mV, respectively. 44.32 % and 90.78 % of the drug was found to be released within 5 min and 15 min, respectively. Hence, by formulating into SNESDF, the solubility of Lovastatin was found to be significantly improved.Objetivo: El objetivo del presente estudio fue desarrollar y optimizar la auto-nanoemulsión forma de dosificación sólida (SNESDF) de la Lovastatina para aumentar su solubilidad. Lovastatina (cuya solubilidad en agua es 0,4 x 10-3 mg / ml) se considera que es un fármaco razonable debido a su alto valor de log P (4,3) y una buena solubilidad en aceites. Materiales y Métodos: Las formulaciones fueron optimizadas por el diseño estadístico Box-Behnken en el cual las variables independientes como relación de tensioactivo: tensioactivo co-(X1), aceite: tensioactivo co tensioactivo (X2), y% Aerosil (X3). Las formulaciones se caracterizan por sus variables dependientes, tales como tamaño de la gota (Y1), la transmitancia (Y3), el porcentaje de fármaco liberado en 5 minutos (Y3), y dentro de 15 minutos (Y4). Resultados y Conclusiones: tamaño de la gota y el potencial zeta del lote optimizado resultó ser 21,89 nm y -6,4 mV, respectivamente. 44,32% y 90,78% del fármaco se encontró que se libera dentro de 5 min y 15 min, respectivamente. Por lo tanto, mediante la formulación en SNESDF de lovastatina , se encontró que la solubilidad mejoraba significativamente

Sadašnjost i budućnost stentova za restenozu koji otpuštaju lijekove

Drug-eluting stents (DESs) prevail in the treatment of carotid artery diseases in the interventional cardiology world owing to their efficacy for significant reduction of restenosis. A current successful DES requires a polymer coating for drug delivery. Clinical trials examining several pharmaceutical agents have demonstrated marked reduction in restenosis following stenting. The development of DES is one of the major revolutions in the field of interventional cardiology. The ideal drug to prevent restenosis must have an anti-proliferative and anti-migratory effect on smooth muscle cells but, on the other hand, it must also enhance re-endothelialization in order to prevent late thrombosis. Additionally, it should effectively inhibit the anti-inflammatory response after balloon induced arterial injury. Although DES have significantly reduced the angiographic restenosis rate and have improved clinical outcomes, late thrombosis and restenosis remain an important subject of ongoing research.Stentovi koji otpuštaju lijekove (DESs) koriste se u kardiologiji za terapiju bolesti karotidnih arterija jer značajno smanjuju restenozu. Dobar DES ima polimerni sloj za isporuku lijekova. Klinički pokusi u kojima je ispitivano nekoliko agenasa pokazali su značajno smanjenje restenoze nakon ugradnje stenta. Razvoj DES-a jedno je od revolucionarnih otkrića u području interventne kardiologije. Idealni lijek za prevenciju restenoze mora imati antiproliferativni i antimigracijski učinak na stanice glatkih mišića, a s druge strane mora povećavati endotelizaciju kako bi se spriječila tromboza. Osim toga, treba učinkovito inhibirati protuupalni odgovor nakon ozljede arterije. Iako DES značajno smanjuje restenozu krvnih žila, kasna tromboza i restenoza ostaju i dalje problem i predmet brojnih istraživanja

A multifaceted strategy using mobile technology to assist rural primary healthcare doctors and frontline health workers in cardiovascular disease risk management: protocol for the SMARTHealth India cluster randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Blood Pressure related disease affected 118 million people in India in the year 2000; this figure will double by 2025. Around one in four adults in rural India have hypertension, and of those, only a minority are accessing appropriate care. Health systems in India face substantial challenges to meet these gaps in care, and innovative solutions are needed. METHODS: We hypothesise that a multifaceted intervention involving capacity strengthening of primary healthcare doctors and non-physician healthcare workers through use of a mobile device-based clinical decision support system will result in improved blood pressure control for individuals at high risk of a cardiovascular disease event when compared with usual healthcare. This intervention will be implemented as a stepped wedge, cluster randomised controlled trial in 18 primary health centres and 54 villages in rural Andhra Pradesh involving adults aged ≥40 years at high cardiovascular disease event risk (approximately 15,000 people). Cardiovascular disease event risk will be calculated based on World Health Organisation/International Society of Hypertension's region-specific risk charts. Cluster randomisation will occur at the level of the primary health centres. Outcome analyses will be conducted blinded to intervention allocation. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: The primary study outcome is the difference in the proportion of people meeting guideline-recommended blood pressure targets in the intervention period vs. the control period. Secondary outcomes include mean reduction in blood pressure levels; change in other cardiovascular disease risk factors, including body mass index, current smoking, reported healthy eating habits, and reported physical activity levels; self-reported use of blood pressure and other cardiovascular medicines; quality of life (using the EQ-5D); and cardiovascular disease events (using hospitalisation data). Trial outcomes will be accompanied by detailed process and economic evaluations. SIGNIFICANCE: The findings are likely to inform policy on a scalable strategy to overcome entrenched inequities in access to effective healthcare for under-served populations in low and middle income country settings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trial Registry India CTRI/2013/06/003753

Convergent Evolution of Escape from Hepaciviral Antagonism in Primates

Escape from antagonism by hepatitis C and related viruses has repeatedly evolved in antiviral factor MAVS via convergent evolution, revealing an ancient history of previous viral encounters in primates

Genetic and multi-omic resources for Alzheimer disease and related dementia from the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center

The Knight-Alzheimer Disease Research Center (Knight-ADRC) at Washington University in St. Louis has pioneered and led worldwide seminal studies that have expanded our clinical, social, pathological, and molecular understanding of Alzheimer Disease. Over more than 40 years, research volunteers have been recruited to participate in cognitive, neuropsychologic, imaging, fluid biomarkers, genomic and multi-omic studies. Tissue and longitudinal data collected to foster, facilitate, and support research on dementia and aging. The Genetics and high throughput -omics core (GHTO) have collected of more than 26,000 biological samples from 6,625 Knight-ADRC participants. Samples available include longitudinal DNA, RNA, non-fasted plasma, cerebrospinal fluid pellets, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The GHTO has performed deep molecular profiling (genomic, transcriptomic, epigenomic, proteomic, and metabolomic) from large number of brain (n = 2,117), CSF (n = 2,012) and blood/plasma (n = 8,265) samples with the goal of identifying novel risk and protective variants, identify novel molecular biomarkers and causal and druggable targets. Overall, the resources available at GHTO support the increase of our understanding of Alzheimer Disease