Acceptability of different oral dosage forms in paediatric patients in hospital setting

Objective The understanding of acceptability of existing dosage forms is limited in most of the world and hinders the development of acceptable, age‐appropriate medicines. The attributes of paediatric medicine acceptability may differ from country to country based on culture, healthcare infrastructure and health policies. This study was designed to map the acceptability of oral medicines in paediatric patients treated in hospital in India. Methods An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted in patients aged below 18 years and taking any form of oral medication. Acceptability scores were obtained using CAST–ClinSearch Acceptability Score Test tool. Findings 490 patients were recruited and 193 evaluations of different pharmaceutical products available in 20 dosage forms and 7 routes of administration were studied. Oral liquids (50%) and tablets (35%) were the most commonly prescribed and administered forms. Regardless of the therapeutic class and age, the oral liquids were ‘positively accepted’ in infants and toddlers. Acceptability of tablets improved with age and appeared to be generally good from the age of 6. Conclusion This study indicates the limited progress towards adoption of age-appropriate dosage forms in India and thus impact on the acceptability of existing oral dosage forms. The key challenges posed by the adoption of age-appropriate formulations in India are (1) awareness of importance of appropriate administration and acceptability of medicines to children in India, (2) availability of age-appropriate dosage forms and (3) lack of child-appropriate medicine policies

Baseline Scenario of Postrainy Season Sorghum Economy in Western Maharashtra. Working Paper Series No. 39

Postrainy season sorghum is one of the major dietary staple cereal crops in the western Maharashtra region suppo

Outcomes of treatment of unresectable esophageal carcinoma treated with chemoradiotherapy and oral metronomic chemotherapy: An experience from a rural cancer center

Introduction: Esophageal carcinoma is the eight most common cancer in the world. The management of locally advancedcarcinoma esophagus is mainly palliative with chemoradiotherapy. The outcome data of such a modality along with oralmetronomic chemotherapy after treatment completion are sparse. Here, we present the outcomes of treatment of locally advancedunresectable esophageal cancer after palliative chemoradiotherapy and oral metronomic therapy from a rural setting in India.Methods: Retrospective analysis of all patients of locally advanced unresectable nonmetastatic esophageal carcinoma treatedwith short course of induction chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy and oral metronomic chemotherapywas performed. The primary aim was estimation of progression free-survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results: A total of45 patients were analyzed. Mean age was 55 years (30-85 years). A total of 32 patients had tumors in upper and middle esophagus,with the most common histology being squamous cell carcinoma (N-41). The estimated 2 year PFS is 47.2% and the estimated2 years OS is 57.8%. Conclusion: Combined modality therapy with adjuvant oral metronomic therapy shows promising results inthe management and should be the basis of further trials

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Not AvailableThe encyrtid Pseudleptomastix mexicana Noyes and Schauff was recovered for the first time from the papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus Williams and Granara de Willink in India in 2011-12 after 10 to 20 months of release in Bangalore and also in Pune in April 2012. However, parasitism by P. mexicana on P. marginatus did not exceed more than five per cent in both the locations.Not Availabl

Studies on Formulation Development of Mucoadhesive Sustained Release Itraconazole Tablet Using Response Surface Methodology

The purpose of this research was to prepare and evaluate sustained release mucoadhesive tablets of Itraconazole. It is practically insoluble in aqueous fluids hence its solid dispersion with Eudragit E100 was prepared by spray drying. This was formulated in matrix of hydrophilic mucoadhesive polymers Carbopol 934P (CP) and Methocel K4M (HPMC). The formulation was optimized using a 32 factorial design. Amounts of CP and HPMC were taken as formulation variables for optimizing response variables i.e. mucoadhesion and dissolution parameters. The optimized mucoadhesive formulation was orally administered to albino rabbits, and blood samples collected were used to determine pharmacokinetic parameters. The solid dispersion markedly enhanced the dissolution rate of itraconazole. The bioadhesive strength of formulation was found to vary linearly with increasing amount of both polymers. Formulations exhibited drug release fitting Peppas model with value of n ranging from 0.61 to 1.18. Optimum combination of polymers was arrived at which provided adequate bioadhesive strength and fairly regulated release profile. The experimental and predicted results for optimum formulations were found to be in close agreement. The formulation showed Cmax 1898 ± 75.23 ng/ml, tmax of the formulation was 2 h and AUC was observed to be 28604.9 ng h/m