Pharmacy

Buccoadhesive disk of diltiazem hydrochloride were prepare by solvent casting method. Sodium alginate was used as bioadhesive polymer. Polyethylene glycol 4000 and mannitol were used as solubilizers. One of each formulation was cross-linked with calcium chloride (0.1 % w/v). The disks were evaluated for surface pH, swelling index, surface diameter study, in-vitro drug release, ex-vivo buccoadhesion and ex-vivo residence time on sheep buccal mucosa. Studies were carried out to evaluate the effect of cross-linking agent on the swelling and buccoadhesive characteristics of sodium alginate buccal disks. Addition of solubilizers in less concentration (0.5%) improved the drug release without erosion of the disks (batch F2 and F4). Buccal disks containing PEG – 4000 had less buccoadhesion than disks containing mannitol. PEG-4000 containing disks showed higher in-vitro drug release rate than mannitol containing disks. It was found that crosslinked disks (batch F1 and F3) of sodium alginate controlled the swelling profile; eroded well during release study without affecting the buccoadhesion of the disks. Cross-linked disks showed more than 80 % drug release within 3 hours by erosion-diffusion mechanism followed by first order release kinetic. Good in-vitro drug release and in-vitro buccal permeation was observed in selected buccal patch.

Communication is a complex phenomenon. The attitude that some students have a natural gift for these skills, while others do not, may impede effective curriculum development. Without specific attention, communication skills may actually deteriorate as student’s progress through training. 1.To develop good relationship ( Rapport ) between students and patient.2.To make the B.P.Th students good communicator and good listener,3.To train the students for verbal and non verbal communication skills. The study is conducted at SKNCOPT, Pune .IV B. P.Th (n=20) students participated in the study. Master’s students participated as observers (n= 4) and ( Sp’s )Standardise patient (n= 5). OSCE Checklist was prepared for COPD and validated from senior faculty members of the institute. And also the station for history taking were prepared. In the interpersonal skills section, the pre values are showing statistically significant 95% confidence interval for difference: 9.336 to 13.33 t = 13.087 with 8 degrees of freedom; P < 0.001, highly significant. In History Taking Pre values showing statistically significant. But post lecture results shows 95% confidence interval for difference: 5.724 to 8.836t = 9.656 with 24 degrees of freedom; P < 0.001 highly significant. Thus the study concludes that the Communication skills have a central role in clinical practice and in treating the patients.

Oral drug delivery is the most preferred route for the various drug molecules among all other routes of drug delivery, because ease of administration which leads to better patient compliance. So, oral sustained release drug delivery system becomes a very promising approach for those drugs that are given orally but having the shorter half life and high dosing frequency. Moreover, pharmaceutical invention and research are increasingly focusing on delivery systems which enhance desirable therapeutic objectives while minimizing side effects. Hence Sustained release dosage forms are good option to release a drug at a predetermined rate in order to maintain a constant drug concentration for a specific period of time with minimum side effects. Sustained release is also providing promising way to decrease the side effects of drug by preventing the fluctuation of the therapeutic concentration of the drug in the body which will improves the therapeutic index of drug concentration. These systems requires numerous considerations, like drug suitability for sustained release dosage forms, techniques of fabrication, evaluation and factors affecting bioavailability of parent drug. Sustained release delivery systems offer numerous advantages when compared to conventional dosage form. These includes less dosage per day, reduced side effects, and improved patient compliance and convenience. In this article basic information regarding sustained release drug delivery system including formulation, evaluation and recent advancements are summarized. Matrix tablets are an interesting option when developing an oral sustained release formulation.

Hyperlipidemia is an elevation of one or more fat proteins in the blood i.e., too much cholesterol in the blood. It is one of the leading causes of various cardiovascular diseases resulting in 40% deaths annually in USA. The aim is to assess and improve the knowledge attitude & practice in hyperlipidaemia patients.  A prospective observational study was conducted in Karuna Medical College Hospital, Palakkad from November 2016 to April 2017. The questionnaire was basically divided in to three sections (Knowledge, Attitude and Practice) with 15 questionnaires. Out of these 15 questionnaires 5 were related to knowledge, 5 were related to attitude and 5 were related to practice. Each positive answer was given a score of ‘one’ and the negative answer was given a score of ‘zero’. Marks scored 4 to 5 considered as good scorer, score 3 considered as average and 2 or below 2 considered as poor scorer.  A total of 107 cases were collected of which 101 cases were available for post intervention. All patients with hyperlipidemia in the age group 30-70 yrs, willing to participate were included in the study. Among the 101 completed cases, 63.3% was male and 37.7% was female patients. 53.5% of patients were from the age group 61-70yrs. 87.1% followed a mixed diet where as 12.9% followed a vegetarian diet. Before intervention, 9.9 % had good knowledge, 15.8% had good attitude and 4.9% had good practice; whereas after intervention 85.1% had good knowledge, 87.1% had good attitude and 37.6% had good practice in hyperlipidemia. Factors beyond knowledge and attitude contribute to disease management. Plausible factors could be poor self-management, lack of motivation, inadequate social support or lack of resources that are necessary for sustained life style modification or behavior change.

The preparation of berbamine-loaded chitosan-agarose microspheres was studied. Optimum preparing parameters were determined by orthogonal experiments as follows: ratio of berbamine to chitosan (w/w) is 1:10; percentage of emulsifier (span 80, v/v) is 6%; volume of glutaraldehyde is 2 mL; and reaction temperature is 70°C. Under these optimal conditions, the encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity of microspheres are 84.57% and 8.44%, respectively. The berbamine-loaded microspheres were spherical with smooth surface, uniform size and without aggregation morphology. In vitro release studies showed that berbamine was released from microspheres in a significantly sustained fashion.

Background: Prodrugs are form of medications in which the drug is given as inactive parent compound, and then activated in the body by various metabolic processes, after administration. The main objective of this study was to assess the awareness about the cardiovascular prodrugs and their interactions among medical practitioners and to assess the relationship between the physicians' awareness, medical professional and years of experience. Method: The study was cross sectional hospital based study, conducted among physicians working in three of Khartoum state hospitals. Data was collected via structure questionnaire. Results: This is study surveyed 196 medical practitioners, 109 (55.6%) were male and 87 (44.4%) were female, mean for the age was 29.04. more than two third (73%) of the medical practitioners knew prodrug. Concomitant prescribing of proton pump inhibitors with Clopidogrel (prodrug) was about half 97 (49%) of total medical practitioners surveyed, followed by Losartan and Metronidazole 81 (41.3%). More than half (51%) of the respondents answered correctly that Enalapril is cardiovascular prodrug. The overall knowledge of prodrugs interaction effect on therapeutic level was very low ranged from (15.85 %- 37.25%). The most frequent prodrug prescribed on daily basis was Statins followed by Clopidogrel. Conclusion: It concluded that awareness regarding prodrug is low among medical practitioners. The awareness and the knowledge of the medical practitioners about prodrug increase with age, and with their professional medical positions.

The present investigation was carried out to determine the possible bioactive components of the several medicinal plants for their Antimycobactrial activity and GC-MS. The chemical compositions of the ethanol and methanol extracts of the five plants and five essential oil plants were investigated using Hewlett-Packard Gas chromatography–Mass spectrometry, while the mass spectra of the compounds found in the extract was matched with the Wiley and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) library or with the published mass spectra. Maximum activity was observed in alcoholic extracts of Tinospora cordifolia, Sida rhombifolia, Morinda citrifolia, Pithecellobium dulce, Allium sativum,, Pinus roxburghii against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and minimum Nardostachys jatamansi, ,Trachyspermum ammi, Lantana camara against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The aim of the research work is to isolate biopolymer and to evaluate its emulsifiability by formulating o/w type of emulsion. The biopolymer was isolated from the fruit pulp of Prunus insititia by collecting and treating with water. The aqueous extract was further treated with 3 vol. of dimethyl ketone and kept aside in refrigeration for 6 hours. The biopolymer was collected by centrifugation and dried and subjected for physicochemical properties like solubility, pH, color, viscosity. Seven different o/w types of emulsions were prepared by using Liquid paraffin oil and biopolymer as an emulsifier in various concentrations ranging from 50mg to 1 gm. The formulated emulsions were subjected for various evaluation parameters like globule size, pH, the effect of freezing and thawing cycle, effect of centrifugation. The results were compared with the standard emulsion which was prepared by using acacia as an emulsifier.The emulsions were not showing any significant stability due to increase in the globule size. The final conclusion was drawn that the biopolymer in lower concentration showed its potential emulsifying property in the formulation FE1 and FE2 containing 50 and 100mg along with uniform globule size ranging from 12 to 30 µm and stable for 3 freezing and thawing cycle. These emulsions are very significantly stable in comparison with standard emulsion.

Consumers are deeply concerned about how their health care is managed, administered and priced. They are frustrated with the expensive, high-tech disease treatment approach predominantly in modern medicine. Positioned at the interface between food and drugs, a growing body of products is assuming importance; the consumer is now looking for complementary or alternative beneficial products and that’s why nowadays they are using nutraceuticals. Increasingly, they are using natural dietary supplements and other forms of nutraceuticals as part of a tremendous surge to have physiological benefits or to provide protection against diseases. Functional foods and nutraceutical products represent a value added growth opportunity both domestically and internationally. Development of better characterized and research proven products will help enhance consumer confidence in nutraceutical and functional food products in the world. This article briefly discusses about the basic information about the nutraceuticals and its importance.

To evaluate the association of SCN1A gene with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) in Heilongjiang province, Jiamusi city. Blood samples were taken from patients and genomic DNA extracted. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify exons 10, 13 and 15 of SCN1A gene, and BstNI restriction enzyme used in digesting PRC products. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) technique was used to detect gene polymorphism within SNP locus of SCN1A gene: exons 10, 13, and 15 among case and control groups. After screening of 210 blood samples from both case and control groups using PCR-RFLP technique, there was a significant difference between case and control groups’ SCN1A gene exon 13, locus A221G but none for exon 10 and 15. There was a significant difference between case and control groups’ SCN1A gene exon 13, locus A221G. AA genotype on comparison with AG and GG genotypes was found to be the highest risk factor for developing HIE. This study establishes an important foundation for further study on cause, prevention and treatment of neonatal HIE based on the gene mentioned above and other related genes.