TIOCONAZOLE LOADED MUCOADHESIVE MICROSPHERES FOR THE TREATMENT OF VAGINAL CANDIDIASIS

Objective: The principal objective of this research work was to formulate tioconazole into mucoadhesive microspheres which were inserted into the vagina for sustaining the anti-fungal activity and protecting the liver and the kidney from the harmful drug side effects. Methods: Microspheres were prepared by the emulsion solvent evaporation method, using different ratios of the drug with either ethyl cellulose N14 or hydroxypropylmethylcellulose K100M (HPMC K100M) as mucoadhesive polymers. The formulated microspheres were evaluated for the particle size, entrapment efficiency, yield percentage, mucoadhesion strength, swelling percentage, pH, in vitro release of the drug and finally in vitro antifungal activity. Results: The optimized formulae were F3 and F6, which showed drug entrapment of 88.4±2.5 % and 97.8±1.6 %, yield percentage of 85.0±2.3% and 95.2±1.2%, mucoadhesion strength of 31.5±1.6 and 38.1±1.6 *103 dyne/cm2, swelling percentages of 143.1±1.3 and 154.2±0.8, pH of 4.7±0.1 and 4.6±0.5, and particle size of 400±3.5 µm and435±7. 8 µm respectively. F3 and F6 released about 72.8%±3.2 and 58.4%±2.7 of the drug after 8 h respectively. F3 and F6 showed a significant anti-fungal activity. Conclusion: Ethyl cellulose and hydroxyl propyl methylcellulose mucoadhesive microspheres are considered a good way to increase the duration of the anti-fungal activity of tioconazole with minimum side effects

SODIUM CROMOGLYCATE MUCOADHESIVE BUCCAL PATCHES: DESIGN, FABRICATION, IN VITRO AND IN VIVO CHARACTERIZATION

Objective: The purpose of this study was to design and formulate mucoadhesive buccal patches of sodium cromoglycate (SCG) as an alternative way to overcome its poor oral absorption and short half-life.Methods: Mucoadhesive patches were prepared by solvent casting technique using cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) alone or in combination with mucoadhesive polymers like SCMC (sodium carboxymethyl cellulose), HPMC 100M (hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose) and Cbp934P (carbopol) in different concentrations. The successful patches were evaluated for thickness, weight variation, folding endurance, tensile strength, drug content, surface pH, moisture uptake, swelling percentage, mucoadhesion strength, residence time, in vitro release study, ex vivo permeation and in vivo pharmacokinetic studies.Results: The thickness of all prepared patches ranged from 0.210±0.006 to0.355±0.012, folding endurance was more than 300, weight variation did not exceed 0.179±0.015, tensile strength and % elongation ranged from 6.4±0.018 to 13.1±0.024, and from 30.4±0.88 to 53.4±0.78respectively. The swelling percentage after one hour was from 20.8±0.99 to 53.2±1.5. pH of all prepared patches did not exceed 6.8, the drug content was about 99 to 101%, moisture uptake did not exceed 10%. Mucoadhesion strength and residence time ranged from 17.2±0.14 to 51.2±0.26, and from 3.35±0.25 to 7.45±0.28 respectively. The cumulative release percentage of SCG was in the following descending order CAB>CAB with Cbp934P>CAB with HPMC>CAB with SCMC. The optimized patch (F9) decreased the Cmax and increased Tmax compared to the parenteral solution.Conclusion: It can be concluded that mucoadhesive buccal patch is a promising dosage form to prolong the release of SCG and enhance its poor oral bioavailability

Enhanced Torsion Mechanism of Small-Scale Reinforced Concrete Beams with Spiral Transverse Reinforcement

The nonlinear torsional behaviour of small-scale reinforced concrete (RC) beams with continuous staggered spiral as transverse reinforcement stirrups is experimentally investigated. Twelve miniatures RC beams were tested under torsion load considering the closed shape of stirrups and compared with continuous staggered spiral ones. All miniatures beams were scaled down to be one-eighth the prototype beam size. The main parameters considered in this research are stirrup spacing and its configurations. Small scale RC beams were taken into account in the existing study because of their construction simplicity and financial feasibility. Mortar without coarse aggregate was applied instead of concrete to reduce the size effect of applying small scale models. Ongoing research trials have been carried out to obtain an efficacious approach to boost torsion failure mechanisms because brittle torsion failure of RC structural elements should be avoided. This study emphasized boosted torsion capacity, dissipated energy, and helical crack propagation. During testing, the primary cracking torsion moment, ultimate torsion moment, peak twist angle, and failure mechanism of the beams were inspected. The use of spiral stirrups showed great enhancement of the torsional behaviour of samples. It was observed that using spiral stirrups rather than closed stirrups could result in a substantial increase in torsion capacity and dissipated energy of 87.7% and 89.8%, respectively. As a result, the predicted capacities of the RC beams prototype were estimated in detail, taking account the scale down factor implemented by the authors. Values obtained based on international specifications and guidelines were used to compare the experimental results. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-11-019 Full Text: PD

Simultaneous quantitative analysis of tamsulosin and finasteride in pharmaceutical dosage form by U-HPLC Tandem mass spectrometry

A sensitive, rapid, selective and accurate liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed for simultaneous identification and quantification of tamsulosin and finasteride in bulk and in their combined dosage form. Chromatography was performed on a Hypersil gold 50 mm × 2 mm (1.9 μm) column, using acetonitrile:ammonium acetate (90:10, v:v) pH = 3.5 as the mobile phase. Protonated ions formed by a turbo ion-spray in positive mode were used to detect the analytes as well as the internal standard (IS). MS/MS detection was carried out by monitoring the fragmentation of 408.74 → 227.29 (m/z), 373.11 → 304.96 (m/z) and 255.75 → 166.15 (m/z) for tamsulosin, finasteride and diphenhydramine (IS), respectively, on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. The linearity was obtained over the concentration range of 1.6-40.0 ng/mL for tamsulosin and 20.0-500.0 ng/mL for finasteride with a lower limit of detection of 0.5 ng/mL and 5.0 ng/mL for the two drugs, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to tamsulosin and finasteride determination in pharmaceutical dosage form. The results obtained were statistically analyzed and compared with those of reference ones; in addition, the method was validated according to USP 34 recommendations. The simplicity and sensitivity of this method allows its use in the quality control of the cited drugs and can be extended for routine analysis of the drugs in their pharmaceutical preparations

Tissue Doppler assessment of right ventricular function in female patients with limited form of systemic sclerosis

AbstractBackgroundCardiac involvement in systemic sclerosis (SSc) is often clinically occult. The aim of this study was the evaluation of early subclinical right ventricular (RV) involvement in patients with limited form of systemic sclerosis by tissue Doppler.MethodsTwenty female patients with limited cutaneous SSc and 20 control female subjects, matched for age were studied with transthoracic echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) to assess RV function. Patients with pulmonary hypertension, chronic renal failure, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, heart failure, left ventricular hypertrophy, ischemic or rheumatic heart disease were excluded.ResultsPatients with limited form SSc had significant lower tricuspid annulus peak systolic velocities (ST) (9.95±1.78 vs. 11.05±1.53cm/s, p<0.044), early (ET) (9.65±1.30 vs. 12.50±1.23cm/s, p<0.0001), late (AT) diastolic velocity (12.60±2.01 vs. 18.15±1.81cm/s, p<0.0001), and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) (23.05±3.50 vs. 26.50±1.90, p<0.001) compared to controls. Myocardial performance index (MPI) of the RV was higher in SSc patients compared to controls (0.41±0.05 vs. 0.30±0.02, p<0.0001). There were significant correlations between disease duration and ST and RV MPI (r=−0.883, p<0.0001; r=0.686, p<0.001, respectively).ConclusionsPatients with limited form of SSc present with pulsed-tissue Doppler imaging indices indicative of right ventricle dysfunction, which had significant correlations with disease duration. Tissue Doppler is a valuable non-invasive tool for detecting RV myocardial involvement in patients with limited SSc

Occupational Hazards and Safety Nursing Guidelines for Pediatric Nurses in the Health Care Setting

Safety in the workplace was the major concern in a variety of occupations and workplace settings. In nursing, the main concern of research was concerned on patient safety; there was limited researches focused on nurses' safety in work setting. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of implementing occupational hazards and safety nursing guidelines for pediatric nurses in the health care setting. A quasi-experimental research design using one group (pre-test &amp; post-test measures) was used. A convenience sample of 173 pediatric nurses affiliated to Mansoura University children's Hospital (MUCH), Mansoura University, Egypt; and accepted to participate in the study was included. The study illustrated that, 77.9% of nurses suffered from fatigue, 69.5% of nurses had back pain. In addition, significant number of nurses are exposed to MRSA infection (61.7%) and 67.4% are exposed to needle stick injury. Before implementing the nursing guidelines, approximately half of nurses had low level knowledge (46.8%) compared to 15% after implementation of nursing guidelines &amp; the difference was statistically significant. The study concluded that, the hazards associated with nursing profession were higher and critical. In addition, there was an improvement of nurse's knowledge and practice about safety with the implementation of educational guidelines. Therefore, the researchers' recommended developing standard of health care safety clarifying the role of health care institution in dealing with and overcoming the occupational hazards in the health care setting in order to improve nurses' safety and commitment to the health care environment. Key words: nurses safety, occupational hazard, nursing guidelines &amp; occupational hazards prevention DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/59-1

CXCR3 renal expression in glomerulonephritis in children: is there a connection with the course of the disease?

Background: Glomerulonephritis (GN) is a common childhood disease that may represent a significant cause of chronic kidney disease at one point of its course. The role of chemokines in glomerulonephritis, has been long anticipated and studied and the possible link between certain chemokines and different renal pathologies, if proved, can pave the road for future use of such markers for early prognosis and possible therapies for this common disease.Objective: in this study, we aimed at detecting CXCR3 in the renal biopsies done for children with glomerulonephritis and to correlate it to the nature of renal pathology and response to therapy.Methods: The glomerular and interstitial expression of CXCR3 in renal biopsies done for 22 patients with glomerulonephritis was studied using immunohistochemical staining. Pathologies already diagnosed in these biopsies were proliferative GN (mesangioproliferative GN, diffuse proliferative GN, focal proliferative GN, IgA nephropathy and crescentic GN) as well as non-proliferative GN (Minimal change disease, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, membranous nephropathy, diffuse mesangial sclerosis and advanced hypertensive nephrosclerosis). History, clinical findings and laboratory investigations in the initial presentation and at the time of the study were obtained.Results: The degree of glomerular and interstitial CXCR3 expression did not vary with gender, age of presentation, response to steroids, or cumulative doses of steroids. Percentage of strong glomerular CXCR3 expression was much higher in proliferative GN compared to non-proliferative GN although the difference was not statistically significant, percentage of renal dysfunction was more among strong glomerular and mild/moderate interstitial CXCR3 expression with no statistically significant difference from the counterparts.Conclusion: Our study revealed that enhanced CXCR3 renal expression on glomerular and interstitial levels did not affect the response to steroids along the course of the disease and so can probably act as a therapeutic target rather than a prognostic marker.Keywords: glom. CXCR3, int. CXCR3, glomerulonephritis, renal biops

Accuracy and trueness of exporting computer aided designs of 3-unit fixed dental prosthesis by 3 CAD systems

Objectives: Computer-aided design (CAD) software programs offer the option to export 3D scans and designs across different CADCAM systems, commonly referred to as open CADCAM technology. However, there is insufficient evidence of whether this exporting procedure has an impact on the accuracy of digital designs.This study aimed to investigate the accuracy of exporting of computer aided designs (CAD) of three-unit fixed dental prosthesis using 3 CAD systems. Materials and Methods: Three CAD softwares (inLab 17™, CeraMill Mind™, Dental System 2017™) were used to generate designs of a three-unit fixed partial denture. The designs generated by each CAD software were exported as stl files to the other two CAD softwares. The exported designs were superimposed on the proprietary designs to evaluate the trueness of the exported designs. Results: The 3D analysis of the exported designs, revealed best trueness with Cerec inLab, followed by Dental System and then Ceramill Mind. The 2D analysis of the exported designs, revealed best trueness values with Dental System, Cerec inLab, then Ceramill Mind. There was however no statistically significant differences between the trueness of exported designs of the three CAD softwares. Conclusions: Exporting Computer aided designs of 3 unit FDP as stl files, designed using Cerec inLab, Dental System and Ceramill Mind did not effect its accuracy. There was no statistical significant difference between the proprietary designs and the exported designs on the three investigated CAD softwares. Clinical Significance : Exporting Computer aided designs of 3 unit fixed dental prosthesis as stl files is a reliable way of data transfer. The deviations due to exporting recorded are minute and statistically insignificant in the in vitro and virtual level of evaluating the accuracy of short span fixed dental prosthesis

Leaching of Some Essential and Non-Essential Heavy Metals from Modern Glazed Ceramic Crockeries Imported into Qatar from China, India and Spain

In this study, the leaching potential of ceramic crockeries available in Qatar market has been evaluated using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Ceramic crockeries decorated with glaze matter containing various essential (Zinc, Iron, and Barium, etc.) and non-essential heavy metals (lead and cadmium) can adulterate the foodstuff and/or can release deadly metals into the food substance. Chines, Indian, and Spanish ceramic crockeries were randomly selected from the products available in the local Qatari market and analyzed to determine the level of leachable essential and non-essential heavy metals. Leaching studies were performed according to the ASTM 738-94 standard test methods for specific metals leaching into 4% acetic acid solutions over 24 hours exposure time. ASTM 738-94 is a precise and standard method and particularly designed for the determination of some heavy metals extracted by acetic acid from the glazed ceramic surface. Results show that all the ceramic crockeries contain both leachable essential and non-essential heavy metals. However, the concentration of these heavy metals is not potentially high to cause any adverse effect on human health