Pharmaceutical Sciences
Volume:22 Issue: 1, Mar 2016

As Editor-in-Chief, it is my pleasure to announce the twenty-second year of Pharmaceutical Sciences publication. I am taking this opportunity to mention few names of colleagues who devoted themselves to the foundation and advancement of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Indeed, history of the journal back to late eighties when Faculty of Pharmacy of Tabriz University in Iran decided to publish a biannually academic journal entitled "Pharmaceutical Sciences, the Journal of Pharmacy Faculty of Tabriz". The first issue appeared in 1994 under editorship of Professor Jalil Afshar. At that time the articles were published in Farsi (abstract in English) and mostly featured topics in pharmaceutics, pharmacology, and pharmacognosy. Since 2012, the Faculty of Pharmacy continued publishing the quarterly journal under the title of "Pharmaceutical Sciences" exclusively in English. Now "Pharmaceutical Sciences" is a well recognized quarterly peer-reviewed journal covers a variety of topics on pharmaceutical sciences including pharmaceutics, pharmacology, toxicology, pharmacognosy, phytopharmacology, medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacogenetic, clinical and hospital pharmacy, nanotechnology and biotechnology in pharmacy, and ecopharmacy.

Analysis of biomolecules is required in many biomedical research areas. A spectrofluorimetric method is proposed for determination of calf thymus DNA (ctDNA) based on the fluorescence enhancement of terbium-danofloxacin (Tb3+Dano) in the presence of ctDNA.
A probe with maximum excitation and emission wavelengths of 347 nm and 545 nm, respectively, was developed. The enhanced fluorescence intensity of Tb3+Dano system was proportional to the concentration of ctDNA. The effective factors and the optimum conditions for the determination of ctDNA were studied. Under the optimum conditions of [Tris buffer]= 0.01 mol L-1 (pH 7.8), [ Tb3]= 1×10-5 mol L-1 and [Dano]= 5×10-5 mol L-1, the maximum response was achieved. The developed method was evaluated in terms of accuracy, precision and limit of detection.
The linear concentration range for quantification of ctDNA was 36-3289 ng mL-1 and the detection limit (S/N=3) was 8 ng mL-1. The concentration of DNA extracted from Escherichia coli as an extracted sample was also determined using the developed probe. The concentration of DNA in extracted sample was determined using UV assay and developed method, the results were satisfactory.
The proposed method is a simple, practical and relatively interference free method to follow up the concentrations of ctDNA.

There are many methods for inducing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in experimental animals. Due to the diversity of these methods and different variables involved in choosing the appropriate one, this study aimed to examine the effect of three different diets on development of NAFLD in rats.
Twelve rats were divided to receive a standard, high fat high fructose (HFHFr), high cholesterol high fructose (HCHFr) or high fat high sucrose diet (HFHS); with access to tap water, fructose or sucrose solutions. The liver histopathological and biochemical assessments were examined after 40 and 60 days.
According to the histological findings, after 60 days of dietary exposures, all three experimental groups showed evidence of fatty changes; however a higher grade of ballooning and NAFLD activity score was found in the HFHFr compared with the other groups. Furthermore, all three diets induced a non-significant increase in serum liver enzymes relative to the control diet.
This study indicates that HFHFr diet induce higher grade of hepatic steatosis and ballooning degenerations after 60 days in comparison with the other groups. So HFHFr diet can be considered as a suitable method for inducing of fatty liver for nutritional and pharmacological studies.

Knowledge of diversity and variability of different plants is a main prerequisite and the first step in extraction of main compounds of them. The objective of the current research was to investigate main chemical composition of the essential oils of Ferulago angulata (Schlecht.) Boiss aerial parts collected from western parts of Iran (Kurdestan, Kermanshah and Lorestan provinces).
Identification of the essential oils was performed by analytical gas chromatograph coupled with mass spectrometer detector (GC/MS).
The major compounds of essential oils of the aerial parts of plants were α-pinene (25.82%), Z-β-ocimene (23.48%), bornyl acetate (9.94%), germacrene D (4.01%), myrcene (3.06%), ɣ-terpinene (3%), limonene (2.27%) and p-cymene (1.99%).
Our findings indicate that the main components of the essential oils belong to monoterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated monoterpenes and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the combinative effect of ball milling and solvent displacement method on size reduction of Celecoxib particles. Celecoxib is a poorly water soluble cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitor which has a wide range of therapeutic applicability.
Microparticles were developed via solvent displacement method followed by planetary ball milling. In order to obtain an optimized size and size distribution of Celecoxib microparticles various factors were evaluated; the role of solvent type, type and concentration of stabilizer, milling effect, and the effect of milling duration were the most important factors studied during the present investigation.
All the obtained formulations were in micron range that the smallest particles had the size of 1.76 μm and the formulation containing the largest particles was of 8.30 μm by volume mean diameter. Both solvent displacement and milling methods are common and potential approaches in order to formulate micron scaled particles.
The combination of these two methods generates a synergistic effect which leads to smaller particle size and a narrow size distribution. Celecoxib microparticles have the potential to use as promising delivery systems to treat various disease and malignancies.

Cephalosporins are among the safest and the most effective broad-spectrum bactericidal antimicrobial agents which have been prescribed by the clinician as antibiotics. Thus, the developing of simple, sensitive and rapid analytical methods for their determination can be attractive and desirable.
A simple, rapid and sensitive spectrofluorimetric method was developed for the determination of cefixime, cefalexin and ceftriaxone in pharmaceutical formulations. Proposed method is based on the oxidation of these cephalosporins with cerium (IV) to produce cerium (III), and its fluorescence was monitored at 356 ± 3 nm after excitation at 254 ± 3 nm.
The variables effecting oxidation of each cephalosporin with cerum (IV) were studied and optimized. Under the experimental conditions used, the calibration graphs were linear over the range 0.1-4 µg/mL. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were in the range 0.031-0.054 and 0.102-0.172 µg/mL, respectively. Intra- and inter-day assay precisions, expressed as the relative standard deviation (RSD), were lower than 5.6 and 6.8%, respectively.
The proposed method was applied to the determination of studied cephalosporins in pharmaceutical formulations by good recoveries in the range 91-110%.

Edoxaban is an orally active direct factor Xa inhibitor. The aim of the present study was to develop a stability indicating HPLC method for the quantification of edoxaban in bulk and in tablet dosage form.
Edoxaban was separated on Hypersil BDS C18 column (250 x 4.6 mm, i.d. 5µm) using 0.1M K2HPO4: Methanol (65:35, v/v) as an isocratic mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min. Detection was performed using photodiode array detector set at 245 nm. The chromatographic conditions were optimized. The method was validated as per the guidelines given by International Conference on Harmonization guidelines.
Edoxaban was eluted at 3.785 min with a total run time of 6 min. The calibration curve was found to be linear over the concentration range of 5–200 μg/ml. Limit of detection and limit of quantification for edoxaban are 0.209 µg/ml and 0.698 µg/ml, respectively. The intra- and inter-day precision values were ≤0.710% and the accuracy ranged from 99.824-100.720%. Besides, all the validation results were within acceptability criteria of general assay. The stability indicating nature of the method was established by subjecting the edoxaban to stress conditions such as acid and base hydrolyses, oxidative, photo- and thermal degradations. The degraded products formed in all stress conditions were resolved successfully from the edoxaban.
The developed and validated method is suitable for the determination of edoxaban in bulk and in commercial tablet dosage form.

Salvia santolinifolia is a medicinal plant, traditionally used for the treatment of inflammation, hypercholesterolemia, hemorrhoids and diarrhea. Discovery of new natural antimicrobial agents is necessary because of microorganism’s resistance to common antibiotics.
Essential oil of S. santolinifolia was analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS. Antibacterial, antifungal and general toxic activities of the essential oil were also evaluated.
Chemical analysis of the oil revealed that α-pinene (49.3%), β-eudesmol (20.0%), camphene (7.8%) and limonene (7.7%) are the major components of the essential oil of S. santolinifolia. The inhibition zones ranged from 11.5 to 23.8 mm. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of the oil obtained from 200 to 800 µg/ml against several microbial strains.
Our results showed that the volatile oil of S. santolinifolia could be considered as a rich source of natural agents for several uses as antibiotics against human pathogenic microbes.

C.trinodisis brown algae of Oman Sea coast is used traditionally as a diuretic in Chabahar, Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran. But no researches have been conducted on the distractive effects of this alga on the renal tissues until now.
Forty-two adult male mice were divided into 6 groups. Control group received normal saline (E0), group (E1) treated with 5mg/kg methanolic extract (ME) and group (E2) to (E5) received 10, 15, 25 and 50 mg/kg of ME of alga respectively. All animals in 6 groups were treated for 2 weeks (once every other day). Finally, histopathological evaluations were made especially by morphology and photometric method.
ME of C.trinodis induced histological damage in kidney. Administration of ME in all experimental groups induced severe glomerular congestion, hyaline cast and severe interstitial inflammatory centers in treated groups. All distractive parameter in test groups increased with increasing dose of extract (p Results showed that ME of the C.trinodis has a nephrotoxic effect on the renal tissues.

Bacillus cereus and Salmonella typhimurium are important human pathogenic bacteria. The spread of strains of drug-resistant these pathogens has encouraged researchers to identify and use novel antibacterial compounds. In this research project, we studied antibacterial effects of some newly synthesized thiazole, imidazolidine and tetrahydropyrimidine derivatives against B. cereus and S. typhimurium.
2-(E)-Cyano(thiazolidin-2-ylidene)thiazoles 1-4 and (imidazolidin or tetrahydropyrimidin-2-ylidene)malononitriles 5-11 were synthesized. Then, the disk diffusion and broth microdilution methods were applied to evaluate antibacterial effects. Results were recorded as the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and the growth inhibition zone diameters.
The in vitro assessment of antibacterial effects showed that only thiazole derivative 4 had considerable inhibitory effects against B. cereus and S. Typhimurium, whereas the others didnt have so. The inhibitory effects of thiazole derivative 4 against B. cereus and S. typhimurium were proven according to the MICs 125 and 500 µg/mL and the growth inhibition zone diameters 19.2±0.1 and 8.4±0.2 mm, respectively.
The antibacterial effects of thiazole, imidazolidine and tetrahydropyrimidine derivatives were different, these effects were observed only in thiazole derivative 4. It could be due to the presence of 4-thiazolone ring in derivative 4, witch could reinforce these effects. After confirming that compound 4 is bactericidal against B. cereus and S. typhimurium, further studies can be accomplished on the determination of the cytotoxic and therapeutic effects of this compound in laboratory animals.

Essential oils have been largely employed for human need due to their antibacterial, antifungal and insecticidal activities. At present, approximately 3000 essential oils are known, 300 of which are commercially important. Essential oils or some of their components are used in perfumes and make-up products, sanitary products, dentistry, agriculture, as food preservers and additives, and as natural remedies. The essential oil compositions of Malaysian Lauraceae family have been investigated for many years. In the recent years, studies on the essential oils of the species have been progressing and many of them have reported interesting pharmacological activities. In this article, we summarized and updated the chemical compositions and biological activities of Malaysian Lauraceae. Throughout our literature review, only four genera which are Lindera, Beilschmiedia, Litsea, and Cinnamomum have been studied for their essential oil compositions in Malaysia. They were found to contain mainly safrole, eugenol, linalool, camphor, benzyl benzoate or cinnamaldehyde as major components. There were significant priorities to find out the details of the chemical compositions of the essential oils from Malaysian Lauraceae. Therefore, more clinical studies on the toxicity of the essential oil of the species are also crucial to ensure their safety and to assess their eligibility to be used as the sources of modern medicines.