STATISTICAL OPTIMIZATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MICROBALLOONS FOR INTESTINAL DELIVERY OF ACID LABILE DRUG UTILIZING ACRYLIC POLYMER

Objective: The present work was to formulate buoyant system in order to protect the drug from gastric acid degradation, increasing the gastric residence time, control the drug leaching by use of enteric polymers, prolong the half life for longer duration of action, furthermore to prevent dosage form adherence to the mucous wall in order to avoid incomplete drug release. Moreover the side effects of effervescent dosage form could be well controlled.Methods: Employed was emulsion solvent diffusion, using 23factorial design with Eudragit®L100 and RS100 in solvent mixture dichloromethane and ethanol whereas the optimization and validation were carried out through Design-Expert 9.0.3 software.Result: Optimized formulation (LRS-O) showed buoyancy (B %) of 78.88±0.23 %, entrapment efficiency (EE %) of 71.12±0.04 % and drug release over 12 h (CDR12 h %) of 99.50±0.08 % in PB pH 6.8. Whereas in PB pH 7.4 the actual values for B %, EE % and CDR12 h % was 87.35±0.68 %, 89.30±0.05 % and 98.68±0.37 %. Smaller error values for both showed that actual responses were within the predicted range. Particles were in the size range 80-100 µm with spherical, rough, porous and internal hollow cavity. Drug-polymer interactions were negligible and showed zero order patterns over 12 hrs.Conclusion: Enhanced bioavailability of the drug was achieved with excellent responses of B %, EE % and CDR12 h % and the software used for the optimization and validation of formulation design, was economical and reduces the number of trials.Â

Etiopathological study of oral and oropharyngeal carcinoma

Background: Oral cancer is thought to be the sixth most common form of cancer causing upto 50% of all malignancies in parts of India and South-East Asia, and an increasing trend in oral cancer mortality have been observed in several countries. The aim of the study was to evaluate the etiological factors contributing to oral and oropharyngeal carcinomas and its association with histopathological findings.Methods: This one year duration study was carried out on 100 patients diagnosed as oral and oropharyngeal cancer attending the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Gajra Raja Medical College and J.A. Group of Hospitals, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India.Results: 98% of the patients were histologically squamous cell carcinomas, with well differentiated carcinoma being the most common i.e. 59%. The etiological factors which were found to have statistically significant association in oral cancers were poor oral hygiene, tobacco chewing and pan chewing. Other factors like cigarette/bidi smoking, alcoholism were also common.Conclusions: Any irritation or ulceration in the mouth not attributed to a recognizable causal factor and not healing within four weeks, especially in presence of risk factors must be investigated for its malignant potential. There is a need for improvement in early detection of oral and oropharyngeal carcinomas, because in the initial stages, treatment is more effective and the morbidity is minimal. Keywords:

Send Orders for Reprints to [email protected] An Overview on Polymethacrylate Polymers in Gastroretentive Dosage Forms

Abstract: Drugs with lower bioavailability need repeated dosing to reach the minimum effective therapeutic concentration in plasma. In order to retain the drug in upper part of gastro intestinal tract (GIT) which is the major absorption window for majority of drugs and also to have localized effect many advances in drug delivery were made. Researchers mainly emphasize on to get patient compliance by formulating single dose, targeted and minimal side effects dosage form. The design must give constant drug release for longer time period that could be achieved through proper selection of polymers. These approaches in dosage design may also be advantageous for local action, to prevent drug degradation, delivery of gastro-irritant, narrow absorption window drugs and to get pH dependent release throughout the GIT. Polymethacrylate polymers in different ratios are available for the above objective as they are inert materials, could stay for longer time and are resistant to body fluids. This review also discusses the physicochemical properties of different available grades along with their glass transition temperatures (Tg)