Iranian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Volume:10 Issue: 3, Summer 2014

Drug delivery via buccal mucosa by means of buccoadhesive formulations offer distinct advantages over peroral administration. Recently, plant gums and exudates have been screened for their use as pharmaceutical adjuvants. The aim of this study is to evaluate matrix tablets containing Plantago psyllium seed mucilage in addition to carbopol as a mucoadhesive agent, and propranolol hydrochloride as a model drug. Mucoadhesive tablets of propranolol were formulated using Plantago psyllium mucilage and Carbopol 934P. The swelling, erosion, mucoadhesion force, in vitro drug release were studied. Interaction between drug and polymers were investigated by DSC thermograms and FT-IR spectra. The bioadhesion strength of formulations containing mucilage and carbopol was more than tablets containing mucilage alone. The results also showed that bioadhesive strength increased with increase in the amount and viscosity of polymers. As the amount of mucilage increased from 6.25% per tablet (F1) to 43.75% (F7) initial release as well as drug release in latter hours was increased in most cases. Combination of Plantago psyllium mucilage and Carbopol 934P modified the release rate and kinetic. The kinetic of drug release has changed by increase in amount of mucilage in these formulations. DSC and FT-IR studies showed no interaction between drug and formulations macromolecules. The use of Plantago psyllium mucilage in addition to carbopol can optimize the drug release in propranolol HCl buccoadhesive tablets.

The UV-spectrophotometric method of analysis was proposed for simultaneous determination of fluoxetine (FLX) and sertraline (SRT). Considering the strong spectral overlap between UV-Vis spectra of these compounds, a previous separation should be carried out in order to determine them by conventional spectrophotometric techniques. Here, full-spectrum multivariate calibrations adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) method is developed. Adaptive network based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is a neuro fuzzy technique where the fusion is made between the neural network and the fuzzy inference system that is a computational method. The experimental calibration matrix was constructed with 30 samples. The concentration ranges considered were 5-120 〖μg.mL〗^(-1) fluoxetine and 10-120 〖μg.mL〗^(-1) sertraline .Absorbance data of the calibration standards were taken between 200-300nm with UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The method was applied to accurately and simultaneously determine the content of pharmaceutical in several synthetic mixtures and real samples. Assaying various synthetic mixtures of the components validated the presented methods. Mean recovery values were found to be 101.26% and 100.24%, respectively for determination of FLX and SRT.

The purpose of the research was to formulate microspheres of acyclovir (ACV) using mucoadhesive polymers, sodium alginate and chitosan. Calcium chloride was used as the ionotropic gelling agent. Sodium alginate was crosslinked by calcium chloride leading to a slower release of the drug. Chitosan which is a cationic polymer interacted with sodium alginate, an anionic polymer, to form an interpolymer complex, which also slowed the release and improved the mucoadhesion. Prior to the formulation, drug: excipient compatibility study was carried out for 12 weeks at 40 ºC  2 ºC /75% RH  5 RH. Then, FTIR was recorded to check for any chemical degradation of the drug ACV. The morphological properties, the drug encapsulation efficiency, the drug release profile and the ex vivo mucoadhesion strength were investigated. Based on these studies, P8 was found to be the best formulation. P8 had a % cumulative drug release (CDR) of 100.81% at the end of 12 h. High encapsulation efficiency of 80.92% and smaller average particle size of 596.74 µm further favored its selection as the best formulation. P8 followed Higuchi model. Further, SEM of P8 was recorded. Accelerated stability study of P8 for 6 months at 40 ºC  2 ºC /75%  5% RH indicated that it was stable.

Peganum harmala is a plant that is traditionally used as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-helmintic, and antimutagenic agent. Moreover, it is used to treat a variety of human ailments, including depression. This study was conducted to investigate the antidiabetic activity of hydro alcoholic extract of this herb. A hydro alcoholic extract from seeds of this herb was prepared and administered at three doses of 30, 60 and 120 mg/kg to three groups of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Two additional groups were used as negative (normal saline plus solvent) and positive control (metformin). Blood glucose levels in animals from all groups were measured at 2, 4, and 6 hours after intraperitoneal injection of the extract to rats. Blood glucose levels decreased in the diabetic rats in comparison with normal rats (P < 0.05). Our finding showed that P. harmala seed extract has good antidiabetic activity in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Further studies need to isolate active compounds and to investigate their activity.

Inhalational insulin was withdrawn from the market due to its potential to produce airway hyper-reactivity and bronchoconstriction. So the present study was designed to explore the acute effects of insulin on airway reactivity of guinea pigs and protective effects of salbutamol and ipratropium against insulin induced airway hyper-responsiveness on isolated tracheal smooth muscle of guinea pig. The tracheal muscle contractions were recorded with transducer on four channel oscillograph. The mean ± SEM of maximum amplitude of contraction with increasing concentrations of insulin (10-7- 10-3 M ), insulin pretreated with fixed concentration of salbutamol (10-7 M) and ipratropium (10-6 M) were 35 ± 1.13 mm, 14.55 ± 0.62 mm and 27.8 ± 1.27 mm respectively. Salbutamol inhibited the contractile response of insulin greater than ipratropium on isolated tracheal muscle of guinea pig. So we suggest that pretreatment of inhaled insulin with salbutamol may be preferred over ipratropium in amelioration of its potential respiratory adverse effects such as bronchoconstriction.

Nano-sized drugs have better distribution than their identical forms. Magnesium is the cofactor of various enzymes in lipid and glucose metabolism. In this study the effect of nano-magnesium oxide (nano-MgO) on glucose concentration and lipid profile in diabetes induced mice was evaluated in 21 laboratory mice. Mice were divided randomly into three equal groups (control, treatment and placebo). Diabetes was induced in treatment and placebo group by injection of 60 mg/kg streptozotocin while control group was injected by saline. Treatment group was injected by 2 mg/kg of nano-MgO every 48 hours until the day 45. Serum glucose was measured in days 3, 46 and 48. Concentration of triglyceride (TG), cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) was measured in day 48. Treatment and placebo group had higher glucose level in day 3 but treatment group in days 46 and 48 had lower glucose levels than placebo group. Diabetic mice had higher levels of TG, cholesterol, LDL and lower levels of HDL than control group in their serum samples. Treatment with MgO ameliorated change in glucose, TG, HDL and LDL level in treated mice. Our study has showed that administration of nano-MgO decreased glucose concentration and ameliorated TG, HDL and LDL levels in diabetes induced mice.

Evaluation of Pre-Fixed Biological Tissues Preparation Methods for ATR-FTIR Biospectroscopy Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in ATR (attenuated total reflection) mode is a powerful tool for studying biomedical samples, which can provide important structural information on the molecular composition. Currently, formalin fixation and paraffin preservation (FFPP) is the preferred source for the histological examination of tissue sections. There is lack of consensus with regard to a standard protocol for de-paraffinization of embedded sections in the field of FTIR spectroscopy for which several approaches have been used. The aim of present study is to optimize the de-paraffinization procedure for biological samples FTIR spectroscopy. To this aim , Rat’s lung tissue samples were paraffinazed in blocks according to standard procedures. Different exposure, duration, and dewaxing timing protocols using any or combinations of n-hexane, xylene, acetone and absolute ethanol have been applied on embedded sections. Results were evaluated with the comparison of the spectroscopic outcome from these methods with comparison to fresh tissues dried with other methods, as well as pure paraffin spectra. As a result , Although n-hexane is an effective dewaxing agent for biological samples after a 24 hours exposure, xylene is a better choice with higher efficiency in less time (6_8 minutes). However sections that was immersed in xylene for 8 minutes and then rinsed in acetone for 5 minutes showed amide Ӏ and П bands and DNA contents in FTIR spectra better than other strategies, visualization of the sections has shown that the paraffin is not removed completely. The disappearance of peaks at 1426 & 2850_2950 cm-1 of the FTIR spectrum was used to ensure complete deparaffinization that happened with 15 min xylene embedding, which effects on other cellular structures and subsequently on the spectrums. However it is important to note that, these processes is not instantaneous and two important properties of the dewaxing agents are its penetration rate and binding time which obey diffusion law, whereby the depth of penetration was proportional to the square root of time. According to this, we have also demonstrated that using pressure, sample proper thickness and higher surface in ATR spectroscopy play an important role in optimization of spectra & decreasing wave disturbances.

Givotia rottleriformis has been used in the indigenous systems of medicine for the treatment of inflammatory diseases like rheumatism and psoriasis. In order to evaluate this information, antipsoriatic activity of three flavonoids isolated from the ethanol extract of the bark of Givotia rottleriformis were investigated using in-vitro and in-vivo model, namely Rutin (I), Luteolin-7-O-β-D-Glucuronide (II) and Kaempferol 3-O-[2-O-(6-O-feruloyl)-β-D-glucopyranosyl]-β-D-galactopyranoside (III). The extract was standardized by HPLC using chemical markers. In vitro antiproliferant assay of the ethanol extract and isolated flavonoids were done on HaCaT cell lines. Mouse tail test was used for the evaluation of antipsoriatic activity of ethanol extract (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg b.w.) and bioactive flavonoids (50 mg/kg b.w.) in Swiss albino mice. In the HPLC analysis, 4 flavonoids were identified by comparison with retention time of standard marker viz., Rutin, Quercetin, Kaempferol and Luteolin. Maximum antiproliferant activity was shown by isolated flavonoids II and III (56.50±12.84μg/ml and 76.50±8.60μg/ml). In mouse tail model, a significant reduction in epidermal thickness with respect to control was observed in groups treated with isolated flavonoids II, III and significant orthokeratosis was observed in groups treated with ethanol extract (200 and 400 mg/kg) and isolated flavonoids II, III.