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The goal of study was to formulate and characterize pullulan based oral thin film (OTF) of zolmitriptan by solvent casting method. Based on preliminary trials, glass, PEG 400 and sucralose were selected as casting surface, water-miscible plasticizer and sweetener for OTF, respectively. A 32 factorial design was used to study the effect of amount of PEG 400 (X1) and sucralose (X2) as independent variables on tensile strength (Y1), elasticity (Y2), % in-vitro drug release in phosphate buffer of pH 6.8 at 5min (Q5min, Y3) and overall taste of OTF (Y4) as responses. OTF of batch F4 (PEG 400, 200mg; sucralose, 12mg) was identified as an optimized batch showing in-vitro, in-vivo disintegration time 20.70 and 21.58s, respectively; 95.53% Q5min; satisfactory thickness, strength, % elongation, ease of handling, smooth mouthfeel, excellent overall taste; even distribution of all ingredients in pullulan OTF (SEM study); and stable film at specified conditions concluding that pullulan, PEG 400 and sucralose are used in combination to make palatable, stable OTF of zolmitriptan.

Biodegradable microspheres have gained popularity for delivering a wide variety of molecules via various routes. These types of products have been prepared using various natural and synthetic biodegradable polymers through suitable techniques for desired delivery of various challenging molecules. Selection of biodegradable polymers and technique play a key role in desired drug delivery.This review describes an overview of the fundamental knowledge and status of biodegradable microspheres in effective delivery of various molecules via desired routes with consideration of outlines of various compendial and non-compendial biodegradable polymers, formulation techniques and release mechanism of microspheres, patents and commercial biodegradable microspheres.There are various advantages of using biodegradable polymers including promise of development with different types of molecules. Biocompatibility, low dosage and reduced side effects are some reasons why usage biodegradable microspheres have gained in popularity. Selection of biodegradable polymers and formulation techniques to create microspheres is the biggest challenge in research. In the near future, biodegradable microspheres will become the eco-friendly product for drug delivery of various genes, hormones, proteins and peptides at specific site of body for desired periods of time.

Pullulan is a non-ionic polysaccharide obtained from fermentation of black yeast like Aureobasidium pullulans and is currently exploited in food and pharmaceutical industries due to its unique characteristics. Due to its properties like non-toxic, non-immunogenic, non-carcinogenic, non-mutagenic, pullulan is being explored for various biomedical applications viz., gene delivery, targeted drug therapy, tissue engineering, wound healing, and also being used in diagnostic applications like, perfusion, receptor, and lymph node target specific imaging and vascular compartment imaging. The unique linkage of α (1→4) and α (1→6) in pullulan endows this polymer with distinctive physical traits, including adhesive property and the ability to form fibers. This review article presents an historical outline, overview of properties, production, derivatives of pullulan, its versatile applicability and recent advances of pullulan.

Mucilage from the last decades has been found to be very attractive, interesting and useful in development of desired pharmaceutical dosage forms. Various applications of plant based mucilage have a wide potentiality in drug formulations. Lepidium sativum Linn. (family: Brassicaceae) is one of the mucilage containing fast growing, edible annual herb. Its various parts (roots, leaves and seeds) have been used to treat various human ailments. It mainly contains alkaloids, saponins, anthracene glycosides, carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, flavanoids, and sterols as chief phytochemical constituents. Its seed extracts have been screened for various biological activities like hypotensive, anti-microbial, bronchodilator, hypoglycemic and allelopathic, whereas its seed coat mucilage has been isolated using different methods to make it effective excipient of desired functionality as a part of pharmaceutical applications. Through keen references of reported work on Lepidium sativum Linn., in this review, we have focused on its seed coat mucilage isolation methods, chemical constituents, pharmacological profile and versatile application of Lepidium sativum Linn.

Polysaccharides have been gaining interesting and valuable applications in the food and pharmaceutical fields. As they are derived from the natural source, they are easily available, non-toxic, cheap, biodegradable and biocompatible. Carrageenan is one among them, which fulfills the criteria of polysaccharide; it is a natural carbohydrate (polysaccharide) obtained from edible red seaweeds. The name Carrageenan is derived from the Chondrus crispus species of seaweed (Rhodophyceace) known as Carrageen Moss or Irish Moss, and Carraigin. A demand based on its application has been widely increasing in food and pharmaceutical sectors. Carrageenan has gained wide applications in experimental medicine, pharmaceutical formulations, cosmetics, and food industries. Through keen references of the reported literature on carrageenan, in this review, we have described about carrageenan, its properties, extraction and refining, and its food and pharmaceutical applications.

The administration of probiotic bacteria for health benefit has rapidly expanded in recent years, with a global market worth $32.6 billion predicted by 2014. The oral administration of most of the probiotics results in the lack of ability to survive in a high proportion of the harsh conditions of acidity and bile concentration commonly encountered in the gastrointestinal tract of humans. Providing probiotic living cells with a physical barrier against adverse environmental conditions is therefore an approach currently receiving considerable interest. Probiotic encapsulation technology has the potential to protect microorganisms and to deliver them into the gut. However, there are still many challenges to overcome with respect to the microencapsulation process and the conditions prevailing in the gut. This review focuses mainly on the methodological approach of probiotic encapsulation including biomaterials selection and choice of appropriate technology in detailed manner.

In recent era various technologies have been made in research and development of controlled release oral drug delivery system to overcome various physiological difficulties such as variation in gastric retention and emptying time. To overcome this drawback and to maximize the oral absorption of various drugs, novel drug delivery systems have been developed. Gastroretentive drug delivery system is facing many challenges which can be overcome by upcoming newly emerging approach i.e. raft forming system. The purpose of writing this review is to focus on recent development of stomach specific floating drug delivery system to circumvent the difficulties associated with formulation design. Various gastroretentive approaches that have been developed till now are also discussed. The present study provides valuable information & highlights advances in this raft forming system. This review attempts to discuss various factors like physiological factors, physicochemical factors and formulation factors to be considered in the development of the raft forming system. Different types of smart polymers used for their formulation have also been summarized. The review focuses on the mechanism, formulation and development of the raft forming system. This review also summarizes the studies to evaluate the performance and application of these systems. The study finally highlights advantages, disadvantages, and marketed preparation of the raft forming system.