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Patient load, lack of time and treatment incentives are the major problems faced by healthcare professionals of being outdated and compromising quality of healthcare. Evidence based medicine has an enormous role to play in improving the present situation. Objective of study is to determine attitude, skills and barriers in practice of evidence based medicine among practitioners and pharmacy students. A cross sectional study was conducted. Institutional ethical committee permission, individual institute permission and consent from all the participants were obtained prior to the study. 323 students and 139 practitioner's responses were collected. 99.4 % of the pharmacy students and 94.2 % of practitioners were aware of evidence based medicine and had positive attitude towards evidence based medicine. The level of confidence for doing various tasks related to evidence based practice is varying widely among students. 56.3 % of pharmacy student's concurred lack of time, lack of skills and non-availability of resources were the major barriers in practice. 74.8 % practitioner's agreed that enhancing pharmacy student's knowledge in evidence based medicine will help to solve clinical queries in minimum time. Evidence based medicine practice among the pharmacy students and practitioners showed positive attitude towards evidence based medicine and supported skill development programs such as hands on training, workshops and seminars. Curriculum modifications in all healthcare professional's education according to the current needs are to be incorporated to enhance the patient care quality in this era of information explosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the study was to develop and validate a simple, robust and accurate method for detection and simultaneous estimation of lupeol and beta-sitosterol as dual bioactive markers in ethanol and n-hexane extracts of Cissus quadrangularis Linn. and its marketed formulation using reverse phase highperformance liquid chromatography for standardization by integrated quality by design approach. A reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography method with photodiode array detection was developed for simultaneous estimation and standardization of two major phytosterols compounds, betasitosterol and lupeol, in marketed formulation and extracts of Cissus quadrangularis Linn. by integrated quality by design approach. The design of experiments was generated by Box-Behnken three level 3 factorial design to optimize the pH of the mobile phase, percentage of the buffer and organic modifier for better separation between lupeol and beta-sitosterol. The optimized chromatographic separation was performed on a Merck Hibar LiChrospher® reverse phase C18 (250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) column as a stationary phase with isocratic elution program using a mixture of mobile phase A: Methanol and acetonitrile in the ratio of 35:15 v/v and mobile phase B: 20 mM ammonium acetate 40 % (pH 4.5) with the flow rate of 1.0 ml/ min at 210 nm. The experimental results of the predicted method by the design of experiment were similar to the suggested responses and all fall in acceptance criteria with the desirability of 0.961. The developed method was validated as per International Conference on Harmonisation guidelines Q2(R1). The betasitosterol and lupeol showed good regression (R2 >0.9995) within test ranges and the percent recovery was found to be 1.77 % w/w and 3.007 % w/w in marketed formulation. The recovery in ethanol extract was found to be 0.926 % and 3.63 %, and 0.065 % and 0.19 %, respectively, in n-hexane extract. The method was found to be highly specific without the interference of impurities. Thus, the method could be extended for the marker-based standardization and routine quality control of Cissus quadrangularis Linn. extracts and their formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes of diphenyldithiocarbamate have been synthesized with the aim of developing antioxidants, potential antibacterial and antifungal agents. Synthesized metal complexes were characterized by magnetic susceptibility, elemental analysis; conductivity measurements, mass spectra, infrared, ultra violet/visible and nuclear magnetic resonance verified the chemical composition of products. Magnetic susceptibility and spectroscopic studies suggested the predicted geometry of the diphenyldithiocarbamate complexes as octahedral geometry of Ni(II) complex distortion square-planer geometry distorted towards tetrahedral for Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes. Synthesized metal complexes exhibited remarkable antioxidant potential as compared to standard. Zn(II) complex of diphenyldithiocarbamate exhibited IC50 of 31.45± 0.31 μM while the standard, butylated hydroxytoluene exhibited IC50 of 44.67±0.45 μM antioxidant activity. Synthesized metal complexes showed very good antibacterial and antifungal potential against Rhodococcuss, Actinomyces viscosus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and the fungi, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Candida and Acetomyceta. It's concluded that synthesized metal complexes showed better antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal potential as compared to diphenyldithiocarbamate as well as the standard and might turn out to be a valuable treatment of numerous kinds of diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silver is commonly used antibacterial material, and showed improved results when doped to less expensive ZnO nanoparticles. Chemical reduction method with zinc acetate as host and silver nitrate as dopant precursor was used. The surface area of particles was enhanced by calcination in different atmospheric conditions. Antibacterial activity of synthesized nanoparticles was evaluated against different Gramnegative and Gram-positive bacterial strains. Minimum inhibitory (6 to 21 mM) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (23 to 47 mM) indicated that antibacterial activity of nanoparticles was increased by silver doping and calcination in oxygen atmosphere. The X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopic data further confirmed the hypothesis. Present study confirmed that oxygen treated silver-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles could have pharmacological applications as alternative for antibiotics and disinfectants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty nine brands of pharmaceutical dosage forms (28 tablets, 4 syrups, 6 suspensions and one chewing gum) that are available in United Arab Emirates pharmaceutical markets were investigated for the presence of three heavy metals; lead, cadmium and nickel. Amongst the samples, 13 products were manufactured locally in United Arab Emirates and 26 products were imported from around the world. The samples were prepared by acid digestion procedure and the resultant solutions were analyzed for heavy metals by using a validated graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometric method. Calibration curves were achieved using different concentration of lead, nickel and cadmium ranged from 0.001 to 0.05 µg/ml. The mean recoveries of metals from the samples were 86.4 to 97%. The%relative standard deviation for the intraassay and interday precision for the metals were <5%. Amongst the 39 samples of pharmaceutical dosage form all exhibited a positive response for lead, cadmium and nickel except three products whose Ni levels were below quantification level. The products contained variable amounts of heavy metals as of 0.0017 to 11.88 µg lead; 0.0011 to 0.5559 µg cadmium and 0.0011 to 2.6428 μg nickel, respectively. Based on maximum recommended daily dose (g) of these products, maximum daily ingested mass of lead was 0.0034 to 11.88 μg/d, 0.0013 to 0.56 μg/d for cadmium and 0.0011 to 2.64 μg/d for nickel, respectively. The results were compared with those of oral permitted daily exposure levels of United State Pharmacopeial National Formulary 2013. All the products were safe to consume and contained lower level of lead, cadmium and nickel than Oral Permitted Daily Exposure levels, except three products which showed higher level of lead than oral permitted daily exposure levels. Hence the raw materials used in manufacturing of these medicinal agents might be responsible for the presence of higher level of lead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present investigation was to prepare an intranasal in situ gel with increased nasal residence time in order to improve bioavailability of metoprolol tartrate. The in situ gel systems containing carbopol, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose K4M and K15M in different concentrations were prepared. The samples were characterized for viscosity, rheological behavior, gelation behavior, gel strength, and mucoadhesion. The formulations F10 (0.4% w/v carbopol, 1% w/v hydroxylpropyl methylcellulose K15M) and F13 (0.3% w/v carbopol, 1% w/v hydroxypropyl methylcellulose K15M) showed gel strength of 40.33±0.47 and 43.00±1.41, respectively, and mucoadhesion strength 31.48±0.14x10³ and 32.12±0.05x10³ dyne/cm², respectively. In vitro release profiles showed initial burst followed by slow release. F10 and F13 released 88.08±0.98 and 91.18±1.09% drug in 8 h. R² value for F10 (0.9953) and F13 (0.9942) was maximum for Higuchi, showing mixed order kinetics while n value obtained on treatment with Korsemayer Pappas equation were near to 0.5, suggesting release by fickian diffusion mechanism. The nasal permeability of formulations F10 and F13 were found to be 0.057 and 0.063 cm/s, respectively. Histopathological examination revealed slight degeneration of nasal epithelium with increased vascularity by F10 but no inflammation by formulation F13. Thus, a pH triggered in situ gel system containing low concentration (0.3% w/v) of carbopol demonstrated sustained release of metoprolol tartrate without any destructive effect on the mucosa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study strong cation exchange resin (Amberlite IRP69) was used to improve the physicochemical properties of ranitidine hydrochloride such as taste and bulk properties and to sustain dissolution rate. Drug-resin complexes were prepared using batch method. Drug loading was done under different processing conditions such as temperature, pH, drug-resin ratio, and drug concentration to get the optimum condition for resinate preparation. Resinate prepared under optimized condition was tested for taste, bulk properties and release rate. Degree of bitterness of ranitidine was found to reduce to zero after complexation with resin. Improvement in flow properties was also observed. Angle of repose for resinate was found to be 33.21o as compared to 42.27o for ranitidine HCl. Effect of dissolution medium and particle size on in vitro release of drug from resinate was also investigated. Resinate with drug to resin ratio of 2:3 and particle size >90 µm showed about 90% of drug release within 12 h. The orodispersible tablet formulated from the resinate containing 10% croscarmellose sodium disintegrated within 35 sec in oral cavity and showed similar dissolution profile as the resinate. Tablets were found stable after stability studies with no change in dissolution profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The small and simple benzothiazole nucleus is present in compounds involved in research aimed at evaluating new products that possess interesting biological activities, such as antitumor, antimicrobial, anthelmintic, antileishmanial, anticonvulsant and antiinflammatory. The present review focuses on the benzothiazoles with potential activities that are now in development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human immunodeficiency virus has been shown to be the causative agent for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The human immunodeficiency virus encodes for unique aspartyl protease that is essential for the production of enzymes and proteins in the final stages of maturation. Protease inhibitors act by preventing the formation of functional proteins from precursor proteins, which are vital for production of mature infectious viral particles. This review summarizes the data documenting the pharmacology and chemistry of non-peptide protease inhibitors that may be used as therapeutic agents against the human immunodeficiency virus infection. These agents are structural mimics of peptides with little or no peptidic character, thus overcoming various pharmacological problems of peptidic protease inhibitors. Structure-based drug designs of potent protease inhibitors, discovered through broad screening, have been developed into various clinical candidates for the treatment of AIDS. Non-peptide protease inhibitors could provide a useful model in the further search for novel compounds with even more pertinent pharmacological and pharmacokinetic profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since solubility is the main constraint for oral bioavailability of silymarin, an attempt has been made to design tablet formulations of silymarin-HP-β-CD solid dispersion in order to improve oral bioavailability. Tablet formulations were prepared by direct compression technique using superdisintegrants such as crosscarmellose sodium, sodium starch glycolate and polyplasdone XL in different concentrations. Developed formulations were evaluated for various pharmaceutical characteristics viz. hardness, % friability, weight variation, drug content, disintegration time and in vitro dissolution profiles. Amongst different batches, formulations containing crosscarmellose sodium showed superior disintegration and dissolution profiles compared to other formulations. However all the formulations showed improved dissolution over marketed formulation reflecting vital role of HP-β-CD dispersion in promotion of silymarin oral bioavailability. Moreover, optimized formulation showed stability at varying temperature and relative humidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]