Marketed herbal preparations containing self generated alcohol (herbal origin and allopathic) may affect the health of patients on faulty dosing. The method was set up for the quantitative estimation of alcohol by gas chromatography. The method was developed by changing various parameters of gas chromatography. Furthermore, the method was validated in order to confirm its reliability and potentials to use as quality control tool in QC laboratories. In ayurvedic preparation arishtha, the estimated alcohol (as self generated alcohol) was found to be 8.1% (khadirarishta), 10.2% (drakshakumari), 7.8% (saraswatarishta) and obeyed the label claim. The present work can be used as the method for routine quality and safety standardization.

The present research was conducted to investigate the cytotoxic activities of methanolic extract of plant of Mimosa pudica. Cytotoxic activity was evaluated using brine shrimp lethality bioassay. For the determination of cytotoxicity, seven different concentrations (80, 100, 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 µg/ml) of methanol extract of Mimosa pudica were used. LC50 value of methanolic extract of Mimosa pudica was found to be 2.6621 µg/ml. Methanolic extract of Mimosa pudica showed lethality in a dose reliant conduct. More exclusively 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, 80% and 100% mortality were observed at the concentration of 80, 100, 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 µg/ml, respectively. The brine shrimp lethality bioassay results suggest that the plant can be a promising source of anticancer compounds.

A new sensitive, specific, precise and accurate RP-HPLC method has been developed and validated for rapid assay of doxazosin in human plasma and pharmaceutical formulations. Isocratic elution at a flow rate of 1.5 ml/min was employed on Chromosil C18 (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 μm) column at ambient temperature. The mobile phase consisted of methanol:water:acetonitrile (25:25:50 v/v), was filtered through 0.45 μ membrane filter and sonicated. The detection was carried out at 280 nm. The injection volume was 20 μl and the total run time was 8 min. The percentage RSD for precision and accuracy of the method was found to be 0.051. The method developed was validated as per the ICH guidelines. The method can be successfully utilized for routine analysis of doxazosin in the rapid and reliable determination of doxazosin in human plasma and pharmaceutical formulations.

Curcuma zedoaria belongs to the family Zingeberaceae. Hydroethanolic extract of Curcuma zedoaria rhizome showed only the presence of alkaloids. Total phenol content was found to be 34.45±1.9 expressed as mg/g equivalent of gallic acid. Total flavonol content was found to be 45.56±2.38 mg/g equivalent of quercetin. In vitro antioxidant activity IC50 value for hydroethanolic extract was found to be 930±16.35 for DPPH method, >1000 µg/ml for Nitric oxide method. Concentration required for reducing power was found to be 2.525±0.023 µg/ml. total antioxidant capacity was found to be 230.2±1.32 which was expressed as mM equivalent of Ascorbic acid. The extract was found to be effective in reducing TC levels after 12 days of pre treatment with extract at a dose of 200 and 400 mg/kg b/w reduced by 17.1% and 19.65%. No significant changes were seen on LDL, VLDL and HDL cholesterol levels.

Crude petroleum ether, chloroform and methanolic aerial part extracts of Elephantopus scaber Linn were investigated for its antibacterial potential against Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella paratyphi A, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella sonnei, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium to observe the chemotherapeutic value of the plant. All the extracts showed very good antibacterial activity but the methanolic extract was found to be the most effective against the tested organisms.

Fenofibrate is a widely used hypolipidemic drug of the fibrate class. The poor aqueous solubility of the drug leads to variable dissolution rates. The present investigation reports development and characterization of fenofibrate oro-dispersible tablets using direct compression technique. Oro-dispersible tablets of fenofibrate were prepared using different concentrations of super disintegrating agents like crospovidone and sodium starch glycolate by direct compression method. The formulation blends were examined for angle of repose, bulk density and tapped density. The prepared tablets were evaluated for general appearance, content uniformity, hardness, friability, wetting time, in vitro disintegration time, and in vitro dissolution studies. The formulation CP-3 was found to be the best as it exhibited least wetting time (43 sec) and disintegration time (26.40 sec) and best in vitro drug release (96.402%) as compared to other tablet formulations.

In the present study, the antioxidant property of ethanolic extract of Leucas aspera has been investigated. The bioactivity of the L. aspera extract was assessed by DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging method. Extract showed significant DPPH free radical scavenging effect when compared with standard drug - ascorbic acid. IC50 value of ascorbic acid and ethanolic extract was found to be 1.25 μg/ml and 99.58 μg/ml, respectively. The IC50 value of extract indicated significant antioxidant potential of the plant.

The present study was designed to develop a suitable matrix type transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) of domperidone maleate using blends of three different polymeric combinations of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and ethylcellulose (EC). Physical studies including moisture content, moisture uptake and flatness to study the stability of the formulations were performed. In-vitro dissolution as well as ex-vivo skin permeation studies of the experimental formulations were also performed. Ex-vivo skin permeation study was conducted across the depilated rat abdominal skin using a modified Franz’s diffusion cell. Drug-excipient interaction studies were carried out using TLC (Thin Layer Chromatography) method. All the formulations were found to be suitable for formulating in terms of physicochemical characteristics and there was no significant interaction noticed between the drug and polymers used. It was observed that as the concentration of the hydrophilic polymer (PVP) increased in the formulation, the rate of dissolution increased subsequently and the best result found for the polymer ratio PVP:EC, 3:5. From the study of release mechanism, it was found that the Higuchi plot showed reasonably straight line with high correlation coefficient. Ex-vivo skin permeation study also shows that the permeation of the drug (Domperidone maleate) through the depilated rat abdominal skin was reasonably better in the formulation where PVP concentration was high. It was also found that there was no significant reaction developed during the contact of patch with the dermis. Hence, it can be reasonably concluded that domperidone maleate can be formulated into the transdermal matrix type patches to sustain its release characteristics and the polymeric composition (PVP:EC, 3:5) was found to be the best choice for manufacturing transdermal patches of domperidone maleate among the formulations studied.

The purpose of this research was to develop mouth dissolving tablets of etoricoxib. Materials containing etoricoxib, camphor, low substituted-hydroxypropyl cellulose (L-HPC) and lactose were compressed by direct compression technique. Camphor was sublimed from the tablets by exposure to vacuum. The porous tablets were evaluated for percentage friability, wetting time and disintegration time. Sublimation of camphor from tablets resulted in superior tablets. The systematic formulation approach helped in understanding the effect of formulation processing variables. The best results for the batch D3 in terms of crushing strength; friability and disintegration were obtained, when sublimation was carried out of the tablets containing camphor as a sublimating agent at 5% and L-HPC as disintegrant at the 12% concentration. The drug release data showed that the entire drug was released within 60 min. The best batch prepared using camphor sublimation technique possessed crushing strength (kg/cm2) of 3.5, friability (%) of 0.26, wetting time of 21 sec and disintegration time of 24 sec, respectively.

Although oral delivery has become a widely accepted route of administration of therapeutic drugs, the gastrointestinal tract presents several formidable barriers to drug delivery. Colonic drug delivery has gained valued attention not just for the targeted delivery and effective therapy of local diseases associated with the colon but also for its potential for the delivery of proteins and therapeutic peptides. A successful and precise colon drug delivery system requires a drug to be protected from upper gastrointestinal tract and an abrupt release into the optimum site of the colon i.e. proximal colon. This review is an attempt to revise the basic concepts and aspects of colon targeted drug delivery systems and also encompasses an overview of diseases of the colon viz. inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and colon cancer. Among the different approaches available to achieve targeted drug release to the colon, the use of especially biodegradable polymers holds great promise. The various primary and novel approaches for effective targeting in the colon have also been discussed briefly.