NANOSUSPENSION TECHNOLOGY: A INNOVATIVE SLANT FOR DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM AND PERMEABILITY ENHANCER FOR POORLY WATER SOLUBLE DRUGS

Nanosuspension contains submicron colloidal dispersion of pharmaceutical active ingredient particles in a liquid phase stabilized by surfactants. The poor water solubility of drugs is major problem for drug formulation. The reduction of drug particles into the sub-micron range leads to a significant increase in the dissolution rate, bioavailability as well as improve stability. Nanosuspension consists of the pure poorly water-soluble drug without any matrix material suspended in dispersion. Nanosuspension many attempts have been made to deliver poorly water soluble drugs as a nanosuspension prepared by adopting various methods. Techniques such as media milling and high pressure homogenization have been used commercially for producing nanosuspension. Recently, the engineering of nanosuspension employing emulsions and microemulsion as templates. The unique features of nanosuspension have enabled their use in various dosage forms, including specialized delivery systems such as mucoadhesive hydrogels, parenteral, peroral, ocular and pulmonary routes. Keywords: Nanosuspension, Solubility enhancement, Saturation solubility, Homogenization

Liquisolid Compacts: A Review

Solubility is a major problem for nearly one third drugs in their development phase. Liquisolid technique is a most promising technique for promoting dissolution by increase in solubility. Liquisolid compact technology is a novel concept for oral drug delivery. Liquisolid compact technology was first described by spireas et.al. (1998). According to the new formulation method of liqui-solid compacts, liquid medications such as solutions or suspensions of water insoluble drugs in suitable nonvolatile liquid vehicles can be converted into acceptably flowing and compressible powders by blending with selected powder excipients

Influence of excipient type and level on quality control parameters of tablets formulated from polysaccharides matrix system

In the present study, mucilage from leaves of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. was extracted and physico-chemical parameters like swelling ratio and angle of repose were determined. Diclofenac sodium matrix tablets containing dried mucilage of H. rosa-sinensis were prepared by direct compression (hydrophilic and hydrophobic). Level and type of excipients influence on drug release, as well as water uptake and mass loss studies were carried out. Stability study of tablets was carried out at 40 °C and 75 % RH for three months. The dried mucilage powder shows superior swelling in all three different media. Batches H and N full fills the entire set criterion. Drug release kinetics from these formulations corresponded best to the zero-order kinetics. There was no significant effect of agitation speed on water uptake while mass loss was significantly affected by agitation speeds of prepared tablets. Tablets are stable after storage.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF CEDRUS DEODARA: AN OVERVIEW

ABSTRACT Doctrines of Ayurveda have momentous value even in the life of present day human life. These principles are based on the extraordinary observations and experimentations at various levels. Hence one cannot easily deny the observations put forward by the philosophers. According to one of its great preceptors Charaka-the dictum of Ayurveda is to maintain health of healthy people and to alleviate disorders in the diseased persons. The references of medicinal uses of herbs are recorded in Rgveda and Atharvaveda. Nighantus, the well-known compilations-are the very rich sources of herbal drug data ranging from identification,collection to therapeutics uses of the drugs. Since previous two decades there has been an increasing status emphasized on screening of herbs for in order to reduce the risk related to diseases. Cedrus deodara, the common cedar is an important plant belonging to the family Conifereae. C. deodara has been proven to have great pharmacological potential with a great utility and usage as folklore medicine, Heart wood is the most important part used medicinally. This review summarized the plant characteristics with their pharmacological activities

Assessing Diagnostic Accuracy of Haemoglobin Colour Scale in Real-life Setting

The study was undertaken to determine diagnostic accuracy of Haemoglobin Colour Scale (HCS) in hands of village-based community health workers (CHWs) in real-life community setting in India. Participants (501 women) were randomly selected from 8 villages belonging to a project area of SEWA-Rural, a voluntary organization located in India. After receiving a brief training, CHWs and a research assistant obtained haemoglobin readings using HCS and HemoCueTM (reference) respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive-values, and likelihood ratios were calculated. Bland-Altman plot was constructed. Mean haemoglobin value, using HCS and HemoCueTM were 11.02 g/dL (CI 10.9-11.2) and 11.07 g/dL (CI 10.9-11.2) respectively. Mean difference between haemoglobin readings was 0.95 g/dL. Sensitivity of HCS was 0.74 (CI 0.65-0.81) and 0.84 (CI 0.8-0.87) whereas specificity was 0.84 (CI:0.51-0.98) and 0.99 (CI:0.97- 0.99) using haemoglobin cutoff limits of 10 g/dL and 7 g/dL respectively. CHWs can accurately diagnose severe and moderately-severe anaemia by using HCS in real-life field condition after a brief training

PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF ACHYRANTHUS ASPERA: AN OVERVIEW

ABSTRACT Many plants are essential in human health care, both in self-medication and in national services. India has a great wealth of various naturally occurring plant drugs which have great potential pharmacological activities. A number of medicinal plants are used as rejuvenators as well as for treating various disease conditions. Achyranthes aspera belonging to the family Amaranthaceae is an important medicinal herb found as a weed throughout India. Though almost all of its parts are used in traditional systems of medicines. This review summarized the plant characteristics with their pharmacological activities

Prospective observational cohort study on grading the severity of postoperative complications in global surgery research

Background The Clavien–Dindo classification is perhaps the most widely used approach for reporting postoperative complications in clinical trials. This system classifies complication severity by the treatment provided. However, it is unclear whether the Clavien–Dindo system can be used internationally in studies across differing healthcare systems in high- (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods This was a secondary analysis of the International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS), a prospective observational cohort study of elective surgery in adults. Data collection occurred over a 7-day period. Severity of complications was graded using Clavien–Dindo and the simpler ISOS grading (mild, moderate or severe, based on guided investigator judgement). Severity grading was compared using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Data are presented as frequencies and ICC values (with 95 per cent c.i.). The analysis was stratified by income status of the country, comparing HICs with LMICs. Results A total of 44 814 patients were recruited from 474 hospitals in 27 countries (19 HICs and 8 LMICs). Some 7508 patients (16·8 per cent) experienced at least one postoperative complication, equivalent to 11 664 complications in total. Using the ISOS classification, 5504 of 11 664 complications (47·2 per cent) were graded as mild, 4244 (36·4 per cent) as moderate and 1916 (16·4 per cent) as severe. Using Clavien–Dindo, 6781 of 11 664 complications (58·1 per cent) were graded as I or II, 1740 (14·9 per cent) as III, 2408 (20·6 per cent) as IV and 735 (6·3 per cent) as V. Agreement between classification systems was poor overall (ICC 0·41, 95 per cent c.i. 0·20 to 0·55), and in LMICs (ICC 0·23, 0·05 to 0·38) and HICs (ICC 0·46, 0·25 to 0·59). Conclusion Caution is recommended when using a treatment approach to grade complications in global surgery studies, as this may introduce bias unintentionally