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Iontophoresis is one of the most widely studied active techniques for enhancing transdermal delivery of drugs. However, its ability to enhance the delivery of highly lipophilic compounds is poor due to lack of any charge and poor water solubility of molecules. The skin has been used as a port for systemic delivery of therapeutic agents since several decades. The composition of stratum corneum renders it a daunting barrier to the topical and transdermal administration of therapeutic agents. The number of drug molecules for transdermal delivery is limited owing to the physicochemical restrictions. The delivery of drugs into systemic circulation via skin has generated much attention during the last decade. Transdermal therapeutic systems propound controlled release of active ingredients through the skin and into the systemic circulation in a predictive manner. Drugs administered through these systems escape first-pass metabolism and maintain a steady state scenario similar to a continuous intravenous infusion for up to several days. Keywords: Iontophoresis, non-invasive, stratum corneum, acid-alkaline reaction, chemical permeation enhancer, reverse iontophoresis.

Most of the infectious diseases due to pathogens are caused by the mucosal tract penetration. Hence, vaccines delivered directly to the mucosal tissues can defend pathogenic infections and provide protection at the first site of infection. Thus, mucosal, specifically, oral delivery is becoming the most ideal mode of vaccination. However, oral vaccines have to overcome numerous barriers such as the extremely low pH of the stomach, the presence of proteolytic enzymes and bile salts as well as low permeability in the intestine. Several formulations based on nanoparticles like liposomes, solid solutions, emulsions, VLPs are currently being used to prepare stable oral vaccine formulations. In current days different companies are trying to develop oral vaccine for COVID 19 also. This review briefly discusses several vaccine development criteria their mechanisms and various aspects of oral nanoparticles-based vaccine design that should be considered for improved mucosal and systemic immune responses. Keywords: Vaccine development, nanoparticles, liposome, VLP, COVID 19, mucosal immunity.

Recently, various natural polysaccharides have been widely used in the development of pharmaceutical drug delivery systems. These are being exploited as binders, granulating agents, gelling agents, mucoadhesive agents, matrix formers, release retardants, etc., in various drug delivery dosage forms. Among different plant polysaccharides, it has been reported that tamarind gum (TG) extracted from tamarind seed kernel could be a promising drug delivery excipient in the development of various dosage forms like suspensions, emulsions, tablets, beads, spheroids, microparticles, nanoparticles, ophthalmic preparations, buccal patches, colon-targeted drug delivery, etc. The present chapter includes a comprehensive and useful discussion of TG in drug delivery systems. In addition, this chapter also briefly discusses source, isolation, chemical composition, and properties of TG.

The present research work was an attempt to develop, evaluate matrix-type transdermal therapeutic system containing lornoxicam with hydrophilic polymer (HPMC E-5) and turmeric oil (leaf extract) by the solvent evaporation technique. The turmeric oil has been used for two reasons, one is to see whether it act as natural penetration enhancer (replacing chemical enhancers) and also to compare the anti-inflammatory synergism between the drug and the oil itself. The anti-inflammatory activity of turmeric oil has been well documented. The physicochemical compatibility of the drug, polymers and oil was studied by infrared spectroscopy. The results suggested no physicochemical incompatibility between them. Five transdermal patch formulations (F1 to F5) consists of HPMC E5 (300 mg fixed) and turmeric oil in the concentrations 3%, 4%, 5%, 6% and 7% respectively were prepared. All formulations carried 10% w/v of Polyethylene glycol as plasticizer in dichloromethane and methanol (4:1) as solvent system. The prepared transdermal patches were evaluated for in vitro release, moisture absorption, moisture loss and mechanical properties. The diffusion studies were performed by using modified Franz diffusion cells. The formulation, F3 showed maximum release 97.56% as compared to patch without any penetration enhancer (58.83%).The synergistic activity has been determined by Carrageenan induced rat paw edema test and the results have confirmed the synergistic activity between the drug and turmeric oil. The developed transdermal patches may increase the efficacy of lornoxicam for the therapy of arthritis and other painful muscular conditions. Keywords: Transdermal system, HPMC, Turmeric oil, penetration enhancer, Synergistic activity.

Celecoxib is a well known non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and extensively employed for the treatment of arthritis. The aim of the present study was to design, develop and optimization of micro particulates system, for colon specific delivery of celecoxib for both local (in prophylaxis of colorectal adreno-carcinoma) and systemic (in chrono-therapeutic treatment of arthritis) therapy. The aim of the present work was to elucidate the effect of formulation variables e.g., amount of eudragit polymer (X 1 ), surfactant concentration (X 2 ) and agitation speed (X 3 ) on in-vitro release profiles (Y 1 -Y 3 ), drug entrapment efficiency (Y 4 ) and particle size (Y 5 ) of micro-particulates system of celecoxib. Microspheres were formulated with the combination of ethyl cellulose (EC) and eudragit RS100/eudragit S100; by using a novel quasi emulsion solvent diffusion technique. Developed formulations were characterized and evaluated on the basis of FTIR, thermal, particle size, SEM and XRD analysis. The formulation variables were optimized by response surface methodology (RSM). Best optimized delayed release formulation was further subjected to the in vivo x-ray studies to evaluate the site specificity. It was found that in-vitro release (Y 1 -Y 3 ) decreased significantly (p

Objective: Duloxetine, a selective serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor used in major depressive disorders, urinary incontinence and diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain. It is reported to be associated with several types of liver injuries, including hepatocellular, cholestatic and mixed hepatocellular-cholestatic patterns. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of duloxetine or its metabolites on oxidative stress-induced liver damages.Methods: In this study, animals were divided into five groups. In the first group, the only vehicle was given orally for 21 d. The second group has been considered as hepatotoxic control group where Erythromycin was given orally for 14 d and remaining three groups have been considered as test groups where duloxetine, fluvoxamine and duloxetine along with fluvoxamine were administered orally for 21 d. Liver GSH, oxidised lipid (malonaldehyde MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), protein carbonyl (PC) and plasma alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels were measured to determine the level of hepatotoxicity. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study of liver tissues was also performed to examine the liver injuries.Results: GSH and SOD levels were found to be decreased in duloxetine-treated groups with respect to the hepatotoxic control group, whereas increased level of MDA, CAT and PC signify the damages of liver cells. Increased level of plasma ALT, AST and ALP at the same time indicated liver tissue damage. Opposite effects were observed in the case of duloxetine and fluvoxamine-treated groups. SEM of liver tissues revealed that the tissue injury occurred in Duloxetin treated groups, whereas the restoration of normal tissue architecture took place due to the administration of duloxetine and fluvoxamine-treated groups.Conclusion: Our results collectively indicated that hydroxylated and epoxide metabolites of duloxetine might have hepatotoxic potential due to oxidative stress produced by the release of free radicals or reactive oxygen species.

Mefenamic acid loaded chitosan microspheres were prepared both by thermal and gluteraldehyde cross linking methods and high level of entrapment of Mefenamic acid was obtained in gluteraldehyde cross linking method. The microspheres exhibited good swelling properties. DTA confirmed that Mefenamic acid was in solid dispersion in gluteraldehyde cross-linked chitosan microspheres. These microspheres exhibited faster release at low loading in comparison to high loading. Fitting the dissolution data of microspheres in Ritger-Peppas equation showed that at low loading the diffusional exponent (n) were high. As the polymer content increased the value of diffusional exponent approached to one, which is indicative of nearly zero order release.

Ficus racemosa is an important medicinal plant, found in India, Australia, and Southeast Asia. It is popularly known as 'gular.' It reduces blood glucose concentration due to the presence of β-sitosterol. Many active constituents that have been isolated from various parts of this plant possess useful pharmacological activities. The literature survey proposed that it has multiple pharmacological actions that include antidiabetic, antioxidant, antidiarrhoeal, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antifungal, antibacterial, hypolipidemic, antifilarial, and hepatoprotection. This review article elaborately describes the traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology of this plant. We also provide useful structures of the secondary metabolites along with their nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data. Some clinical trial data have also been provided in this review. This review would assist researchers to gather scientific information in future.