DARU, Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Volume:13 Issue: 1, Spring 2005

Abstract: Salbutamol sulphate (SS) was precipitated by supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) using a homemade system at two different pressures. This process is characterized by spraying a methanolic solution of the drug into the supercritical fluid (SCF), extraction of the solvent by SC-CO2 and formation of drug particles. The morphology and size distribution of precipitated SS particles were characterized using scanning electron microscope and laser diffraction particle size analyzer respectively. FTIR spectra were used before and after processing to asses crystal modifications. Depending on the processing conditions, needle-like and flake-like particles with different size distributions were observed. The average size of the flake like particles was less than needle-like particles and the span parameter showed a narrower size distribution of the processed in comparison with the unprocessed materials. Analysis by FTIR showed that there was no significant effect on the structure of the drug under these processing conditions.

Abstract: The carbon -14 urea breath test (UBT)is a non-invasive and simple method for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection. Attempts have been made to use lower doses of 14C-urea in the UBT in order to reduce the radiation risk of the test. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of a microdose (1 µCi [37 KBq]) 14C-UBT in Iranian population for validation of its diagnostic accuracy against gold standard methods. Eighty and two patients were subjected to upper gastrointestinal endoscopy as well as 14C-UBT in one week. Rapid urease test and histological examinations were used as gold standard. Breath samples were collected 10, 20 and 30 minute after ingestion of 1 µCi of 14C- urea solution and their activities were measured using a scintillation counter and expressed as counts per minute (cpm) and disintegration per minute (dpm). Good agreement was observed between the 14C-UBT and gold standard for samples which were collected 20 minutes after 14C-urea administration. The 14CUBT showed 100% sensitivity, 95% specificity, 95.45% positive predictive value, 100% negative predictive value and 97.50% accuracy. The results of this study showed good concordance between the 14C-UBT and invasive methods.

Abstract: Derivative spectrophotometry offers a useful approach for the analysis of drugs in multi-component mixtures. In this study a third-derivative spectrophotometry method was used for simultaneous determination of anthocyanoside and beta-carotene using the zero-crossing technique. The measurements were carried out at wavelengths of 625 and 540 nm for anthocyanoside and beta-carotene respectively. The method was found to be linear (r2>0.999) in the range of 125-750 µg/mL for anthocyanoside in the presence of 25 µg/mL beta-carotene at 625 nm. The same linear correlation was also obtained (r2>0.997) in the range of 6.25-37.50 µg/mL for beta-carotene in the presence of 500 µg/mL of anthocyanoside at 540 nm. The limit of determination was 125 and 6.25 µg/mL for anthocyanoside and beta-carotene respectively. The method was successfully applied for simultaneous determination of anthocyanoside and beta-carotene in pharmaceutical preparations without any interferences from excipients.

Abstract: The antibacterial activities of the chloroform and water extracts of Ferula persica var. persica (Apiaceae)roots were studied by the disk diffusion method. While the chloroform extract of F. persica roots showed antibacterial activity, the water extract of the roots at the concentrations that tested did not show any activity. By bioassay-guided fractionation of the chloroform extract of the roots by preparative thin layer chromatography (PTLC) a compound was found which was active against some bacteria. By conventional spectroscopy methods the active fraction was identified as umbelliprenin. This coumarin was mostly active against B. subtillis, B. cereus, E. coli, K. ponumoniae, S. typhi, S. aureus, and S. epidermilis.

Abstract: Effects of different culture conditions on growth and production of amylase by Mucor sp, using the variable size - simplex design, was investigated. The results showed that the optimum condition are pH of 5.5 -7, temperature of 23.8- 25 oC, shaking rate of 126 -155 rpm, starch at the concentration of 5.6 - 8 g/L and arginin at the concentration of 4.3 - 5.7 g/L.

Abstract: Parkinson''s disease is a common degenerative disease that causes rigidity, bradykinesia and rest tremor in patients. Available treatments include levodopa (the major drug) and other supplementary drugs (bromocriptine or selegiline) which can reduce such disabilities, but because of the necessity of their uses for a long term treatment, many side effects are being expected. Thus, due to lack of sufficient reports about efficacy and side effects of such supplementary drugs, this experimental study was carried out. Seventy seven patients (50 men and 27 women) with the average age of 68±8.42 years were divided into three groups. In group A, levodopa and trihexyphenidyl (Artan®) were administered to 18 patients. In group B, selegiline (Deprenyl®) was used as a supplementary and was administered with levodopa and trihexyphenidyl for 25 patients. In group C, bromocriptine was used in place of selegiline, for 34 patients. In a three year period, the patients were followed up, in conformity with UPDRS (Unified Parkinson''s Disease Rate Scale). In this experimental study, group C showed better physical activities in comparison with group A and group B, in spite of having better conditions at the first year showed totally little differences in comparison with group A. With a view to side effect particularly dyskinesia; there was little side effect in group C. On the basis of results of this investigation it appears that bromocriptine as a supplementary drug in comarison to selegiline has fewer side effects.

Abstract: Therapeutic effects of Ocimum basilicum on respiratory diseases especially dyspnea have been reported in Iranian ancient medical books. In the present study, the relaxant effects of macerated and soxhlet extracts of this plant on tracheal chains of guinea pigs were evaluated. The relaxant effects of 4 cumulative concentrations of macerated and soxhlet extracts (0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0 W/V) in comparison with saline as negative control and 4 cumulative concentrations of theophylline (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 mM) as positive control were examined on precontracted tracheal chains of two groups of 6 guinea pig by 60 mM KCl (group 1) and 10 µM methacholine (group 2). Decrease in contractile tone of tracheal chains was considered as relaxant effect. In group 1 experiments only the last two higher concentrations of theophylline showed significant relaxant effect compared to that of saline (p<0.001 for both concentrations), which were significantly greater than those of macerated and soxhlet extracts (p<0.001 for all cases) and in group 2 experiments both macerated and soxhlet extracts showed concentrationdependent relaxant effects compared to that of saline (p<0.05 to p<0.001 for both extracts). There were significant differences between the relaxant effects of both extracts with those of theophylline in group 2 experiments (p<0.01 to p<0.001). The relaxant effects of macerated and soxhlet extracts in group 1 were significantly lower than those of groups 2. These results showed a potent relaxant effect of Ocimum basilicum on tracheal chains of guinea pigs which were lower than theophylline at concentrations used.

Abstract: Top flowered aerial parts of Achillea conferta DC. (Compositae), which is found in the central and western regions of Iran were collected from Taleghan area and the volatile oil was isolateds by hydrodistillation. The oil (0.2 % V/W) was analyzed by GC and GC/MS using DB-5 column. Forty-eight components, representing 91.4% of the oil were identified. The main components were camphor (22.1%) and 1,8-cineole (10.0%). The percentage of oxygenated compounds was 79.0% of the total oil. The oil o was rich in monoterpenes with two typical major components of Achillea species, camphor (22.1%) and 1, 8- cineole (10.0%).